Harper Lees: a slow building story

Harper Lees . . . a slow building. Gillian Peace's account of the purchase and renovation of a derelict farm property by the banks of the river Derwent on the outskirts of Hathersage is a delight. She and her husband, Christopher, a newly married young couple, whose "financial resources were small", with ingenuity, skill, and immense hard graft, slowly, over a period of forty-four years, transform Harper Lees and in doing so create an idyll that is far more than the sum of its parts.The chapters concerning the restoration of the building are both fascinating and entertaining, Acquisition and recycling can become an art form when financial resources are constrained. Christopher Peace's "well-developed predatory instinct [. . .]to pounce the moment opportunity arose", results in quite extraordinary spoils – a redundant Victorian signal box, a whole street-full of doors from slum clearance in Sheffield, were amongst the many. The descriptions of how these acquisitions were incorporated into the fabric of the building reflect not only Christopher's "inherited [ability] for design and architectural expertise" but also his "resourcefulness and ingenuity honed from a background in scouting and engineering".The setting of Harper Lees gives Gillian Peace a rich tapestry from which to draw, reflected in her elegant writing, further illuminated with quotations from literature and poetry. She is clearly a very well-read lady. The setting, with Harper Lees "a place of restoration and hope" nestled as it was in the Hope Valley, also provides a "wonderful playground" for her children and their friends growing up. Mud, water, wildlife in abundance, building bonfires under the critical eye of a Queens Scout father. Enjoying the sort of adventurous childhood that people of my generation can barely remember and, sadly, so few children of the current times experience unless through old-fashioned books.I knew Hathersage as a teenager hiking from Sheffield or riding on Abney Moor, but left for work in the South some years before Harper Lees was acquired by the author. The book brought back old memories of a beautiful area. Memories, of course, abound throughout the book. Memories contributed by the family and friends with whom they shared the adventure of Harper Lees comprise the penultimate chapter of the book. As I read it became clear to me that surely our most valuable memories come from inclusivity. When the owner's castle becomes a fortress, doors barred, portcullis down, memories stale and sour. But if, like Gillian and Christopher Peace you throw open your doors, share your lives, welcome your children's friends, enjoy the enjoyment of the strangers who walk the paths through "your" land, then not only will your memories never stale nor grow sour but perhaps, as in the case of Harper Lees under the skilful penmanship of Gillian Peace, make the subject of a most wonderful, readable book.Julie Seagrave13 May 2021

Newly married, this young girl from Surrey was about to take on a lifelong project with her Yorkshire born husband. It was he who was immediately hooked on Harper Lees, a broken down farmstead. In this delightful memoir Gillian Peace approaches the restoration, a labour of love, from many aspects. We learn about the farm as part of English history, Harper Lees as a name is clarified and former inhabitants come to life. On the one side is the search for reliable skilled people to guide Gillian and husband Christopher create their home while on the other side we see Gillian pulling endless rusty nails out of a reclaimed beam of wood. The house is animated by those who pass through it, many family members, close friends and Gillian and Christopher’s son and daughter. For them and their numerous friends Harper Lees is a magic place in which to grow up. The story of the farmstead and those who loved it is interspersed with literary quotations from Homer to Heaney. This makes the book a sort of literary memoir and a really good read.