James Herriot exhibition set to charm visitors from all nations great and small

Visitors to The World of James Herriot will be able to check out the original manuscript for The Lord God Made Them All as well as film scripts, props and photographs from the BBC TV series All Creatures Great and Small.

The exhibition – from script to screen and page to stage – shows how Yorkshire Dales vet Alf Wight’s entertaining books about farmers and their animals have been turned into films, a TV series and stage plays.

“When Dad’s first book was published, we would fantasise as a family about turning it into a film – arguing about who we would have to play the main characters,” said Alf’s daughter, Rosie Page.

“These discussions were accompanied by howls of laughter.

“Little did we know that it would all come true and that Dad would become famous.”

But it was not until Mr Wright was 50 that his lifelong ambition to write became a reality after being challenged by his wife. He had tried writing about other subjects but writing about what he knew best proved a wise decision.

The magical pastoral world he evoked of fellow vets – the bellicose Siegfried and Tristan Farnon – a drinker with an eye for the ladies – and cantankerous farmers who would summon him out of bed in the early hours separating him from the delicious warmth of his fictional wife Helen, was about to become a reality.

At first sales were slow but his books took off in, of all places, America, and now he is one of the most famous authors all over the world.

Thirsk, where his surgery was based, has a lot to thank him for as it draws in thousands of tourists year after year.

Make up artist Maggie Thomas, who looked after Christopher Timothy and Carol Drinkwater in the BBC TV series and is featured in the exhibition, is visiting the museum on Sunday, August 21, to talk about her work on the television.

Tickets are £12 from the centre. The centre is open from 10am until 5pm every day (last admission 4pm). For more details call 01845 524234.