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Darnley Mills #6
Devil's Nob
Recounts the struggle of two young people against poverty in Victorian England, particularly the effort of one to alter events by betting a week's wages on a race between a horse and a steam engine.
190 pages, Hardcover
First published July 23, 1970
9 people want to read
About the author
Philip Turner
88 books4 followersPhilip William Turner is an English author best known for his children's books set in the fictional town of Darnley Mills (1964–1977). Under the pen name Stephen Chance he is known for the Reverend Septimus Treloar mystery fiction series (1971–1979).
For his second novel and second Darnley Mills book, The Grange at High Force, he won the 1965 Carnegie Medal in Literature from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.
Born in British Columbia, Canada on 3 December 1925 to English parents from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Philip Turner was brought to England in 1926. He was educated at Hinckley Grammar School in Leicestershire and spent many school holidays exploring the East Anglian fens whilst staying with his grandparents.
He served his National Service from 1943 to 1946 as a Sub-Lieutenant Mechanical Engineer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He then resumed his education at Worcester College, Oxford, whence he graduated in 1949. He married Margaret Diana Samson in 1950 with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
He began writing religious pieces in the mid-1950s and also wrote several books for young adults under the name Stephen Chance. The first Septimus book, The Danedyke Mystery (1971), was adapted for television in 1979.
Philip and Margaret lived in West Malvern for 30 years until his death from cancer in January 2006. He is buried at St. Mathias Church, Malvern Link.
For his second novel and second Darnley Mills book, The Grange at High Force, he won the 1965 Carnegie Medal in Literature from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.
Born in British Columbia, Canada on 3 December 1925 to English parents from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Philip Turner was brought to England in 1926. He was educated at Hinckley Grammar School in Leicestershire and spent many school holidays exploring the East Anglian fens whilst staying with his grandparents.
He served his National Service from 1943 to 1946 as a Sub-Lieutenant Mechanical Engineer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He then resumed his education at Worcester College, Oxford, whence he graduated in 1949. He married Margaret Diana Samson in 1950 with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
He began writing religious pieces in the mid-1950s and also wrote several books for young adults under the name Stephen Chance. The first Septimus book, The Danedyke Mystery (1971), was adapted for television in 1979.
Philip and Margaret lived in West Malvern for 30 years until his death from cancer in January 2006. He is buried at St. Mathias Church, Malvern Link.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 3, 2026
Philip Turner's Darnley Mills books are excellent reading, and this story of hard work and young love is no exception. It is nice, in the best, read in a single siting, sort of way.
Displaying 1 of 1 review