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Darnley Mills #1
Colonel Sheperton's Clock
This is a compelling story of a courageous boy, a mystery and more. It is told with warmth and humor. The author clearly enjoyed the adventures of his character and his two friends, three English boys unexpectedly finding themselves against adult adversaries in the act of commiting a crime. The climax is hilarious and heroic, and David's bravery is tested. Three boys hide inside an organ in the old Benedictine abbey and make a discovery that reveals an exciting story of espionage from World War I. This is a first novel for a young reader. The author re-creates in words, sights and sounds a picturesque town in the north of England.
190 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
18 people want to read
About the author
Philip Turner
86 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 15, 2019
I read this book and the others in the series more than 30 years ago and I loved them so much I later bought copies that have been on my shelves for years and which I decided to re-read at mid-life. This book is set in England, about 50 years after World War I and centers around a few young English boys in a small rural town. Their lives center around their church, boyhood adventures and the mystery surrounding an old grandfather clock that has been sitting unclaimed since World War I in the carpentry shop owned by the father of one of the boys.
I loved this book when I read it, and loved it just as much today, but I am not sure how well modern boys would relate to it. There are no cellphones, no computers and church activities are a major part of daily life for the boys who also engage in adventures such as prowling around the church parapet and roof, that the "snowflakes" of today might frown upon! There are unfamiliar English expressions, and to be honest, while the World War I clock mystery is simply spell-binding, with World War I today a century in the past, most people, let alone boys today, are not all that familiar with that war.
On the other hand, these attributes may in fact be the strength of this book and why young people today may enjoy it! What young boy or even girl today would not love to ride across the countryside on bikes, crawl around an old church high in the air, pursue an old mystery all without the micromanagement of today's "helicopter" parents and the sad overscheduling that today ruins so many childhoods? Imagine a time you don't have to text message every second, and yet you can use your "smartphone" to immediately look up the odd English expressions used in the book! So I can see how this book might very much appeal to the young reader of 2019 much as it appealed to me in 1986.
I don't think this book is still in print, which is a real shame. But if you ever come across Colonel Sheperton's Clock at a used book sale and want to read a wonderful boyhood adventure, this is among the best you will ever find. Highly recommended.
I loved this book when I read it, and loved it just as much today, but I am not sure how well modern boys would relate to it. There are no cellphones, no computers and church activities are a major part of daily life for the boys who also engage in adventures such as prowling around the church parapet and roof, that the "snowflakes" of today might frown upon! There are unfamiliar English expressions, and to be honest, while the World War I clock mystery is simply spell-binding, with World War I today a century in the past, most people, let alone boys today, are not all that familiar with that war.
On the other hand, these attributes may in fact be the strength of this book and why young people today may enjoy it! What young boy or even girl today would not love to ride across the countryside on bikes, crawl around an old church high in the air, pursue an old mystery all without the micromanagement of today's "helicopter" parents and the sad overscheduling that today ruins so many childhoods? Imagine a time you don't have to text message every second, and yet you can use your "smartphone" to immediately look up the odd English expressions used in the book! So I can see how this book might very much appeal to the young reader of 2019 much as it appealed to me in 1986.
I don't think this book is still in print, which is a real shame. But if you ever come across Colonel Sheperton's Clock at a used book sale and want to read a wonderful boyhood adventure, this is among the best you will ever find. Highly recommended.
May 15, 2013
This was one of my favorite books when I was between about ten and thirteen. It's about three British schoolboys who solve a historical mystery while having some grand adventures. I recently found a used copy and re-read it. It holds up well.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews