As series 3 of the Channel 5 show All Creatures Great and Small airs in America, I thought I would tell you more about this classic tale of Yorkshire folk.
The TV series is based on the books written by James Herriot recounting his life as a vet in rural Yorkshire but did you know that James Herriot is actually made up?!
Don’t worry, you haven’t been lied to, there really was a vet working out of the market town of Thirsk, with a variety of animals and people to deal with but he was actually called Alf Wight. When Alf decided to write down his stories, there were strict rules regarding vets advertising so he felt it best to use a pseudonym – as a huge football fan, he had watched Jim Herriot, Birmingham City’s goalkeeper put in a cracking performance against Manchester United and so James Herriot was born!
You can see plenty of the locations used in both the new Channel 5 series and the previous series from the 1980s as well as places Alf visited and lived with Yorkshire Blue Badge Guides. I was lucky enough to be guiding a group round the Yorkshire Dales in May when Channel 5 were filming the 2022 Christmas special – under a blazing summer sun! The picture shows how the town square of Grassington was transformed into a wintery Darrowby. For more information please or to plan your locations tour, please get in touch.
Contributed by Sarah Milne-Day, Yorkshire Blue Badge Guide – https://yorkshiresbestguides.co.uk/project/sarah-milne-day/
Experience Yorkshire www.experience-yorkshire.com
