‘Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room … Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well’
As I sat that day with the ‘finest view in England’ stretched before me, I did wonder whether I would ever see my father again. I would give a great deal to be able to do so. I have so much to say to him and countless questions to ask. I do not know and I can only hope.
There is, however, one thing of which I am certain. James Herriot, the unassuming veterinary surgeon who enthralled millions, was no fictional character. There was a man I knew, who possessed all the virtues of the famous veterinarian – and more. A totally honest man whose fine sense of humour and air of goodwill towards others ensured that he was respected by all who knew him. A man on whom, after his death, a Yorkshire farmer delivered his final verdict: ‘Aye, he were a right decent feller.’ That man was James Alfred Wight.
1. Hannah Bell, Alf’s mother
2. James Henry Wight, Alf’s father
3. The formal family photograph following the wedding of Hannah and James Wight, July 1915. The two young men in uniform in the front row are, left, Alfred Wight, after whom Alf was named and, right, Stan Bell, Hannah’s brother; between them are Pop’s two sisters, Jennie and Ella. Bob and Matt Wight are on either end of the back row; below Bob is Auntie Jinny and her husband, George Wilkins.
4. Alf on holiday with his parents at Inverbeg by Loch Lomond: one hopes they did not have far to walk.
5. Alf between Auntie Jinny and his mother and, behind, George, Nan and Stan Wilkins
6. Alf with Stan Wilkins and hairy friend
7. With Don as a young puppy
8. The Glasgow Veterinary College football team. Alf is in the centre row on the left with Bob Smith in fifth position and Eddie Straiton third from right. Aubrey Melville is in the front row, on the far left, predictably with a girl next to him.
9. The Boys’ Brigade relaxing on the beach at North Berwick. From left to right:Alf, Eddie Hutchinson, Pete Shaw and Alex Taylor
10. With his mother in Llandudno, c. 1937
11. Alf while he was at Hillhead School
12. Alf with Donald Sinclair and Eric Parker, in the garden at 23 Kirkgate
13. In the vegetable garden at 23 Kirkgate
14. TB Testing in the Yorkshire Dales
15. A postcard of Kirkgate in Thirsk, looking up to the parish church—and, by coincidence, Alf’s car outside the surgery
16. Alf, in RAF uniform, with his newborn son: February 13, 1943
17. Joan on the beach at Llandudno, 1951
18. Pop and Alf with Rosie and Jimmy in the garden at 23 Kirkgate
19. Alf and Jimmy Youth-Hostelling near Reeth in the Dales, 1957
20. Alf with Jimmy and Rosie, Alex Taylor with Lynne
21. Picnic time with Pop and Granny Wight
22. Brian Sinclair c. 1948
23. Brian Nettieton, t’ vet wi’t badger
24. The author, with his father, ‘always a comforting presence’
25. Hector the Jack Russell almost seemed to want to drive the car himself, while Dan was content to be passenger.
26. Joan was as fond of the dogs as Alf.
27. Bodie, the border terrier, Alf’s last dog
28. Rosie with Bodie and her dog Polly at Sanna Bay on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula
29. The brass plate outside 23 Kirkgate: Mr D. V. Sinclair and Mr J. A. Wight, Veterinary Surgeons
30. The brass plate outside Skeldale House, announcing S. Farnon and J. Herriot, Veterinary Surgeons
31. The fury of the chase: pigs are almost impossible to catch in the open.
32. James Herriot, author, meets the other James Herriot, who lent him his name.
33. After a hard day’s work as a vet, Alf would write his books on a portable typewriter in front of the television in the evening.
34. Dick Francis and Donald Sinden with Alf at the Authors of the Year party
35. The queue in W. H. Smith, Harrogate, 1977
36. Simon Ward and Lisa Harrow played James and Joan in the first film. This shows them after their considerably more splendid wedding than the real couple, right, had thirty-two years previously.
37. In the second film, James Alderton played James Herriot, again opposite Lisa Harrow. Colin Blakely, right, played Siegfried.
38. Partners in more sense than one: the television actors stand behind their true-life counterparts. Christopher Timothy and James Herriot/Alf Wight, Robert Hardy and Siegfried Farnon/Donald Sinclair, and Peter Davison and Tristan Farnon/Brian Sinclair
39. Arthur Dand, farmer and fellow author, with Alf
40. The ultimate honour: at Buckingham Palace after receiving the OBE in 1979
41. With granddaughters Zoe and Katrina
42. With Sunderland F. C. fans on King’s Cross Station in London
43. After the memorial service at York Minster: the author, Chris Timothy, Joan, Robert Hardy, and granddaughter Emma Page