Exploring the World of James Herriot
Hello, and welcome to this website dedicated to James Herriot. It gathers together a collection of topics, walks, pictures and even some recipes, all related to James Herriot.
A bit of background.. James Herriot’s books have been a constant companion for me ever since I read the first one as a teenager. I had been gifted the book by an aunt and thought it would be all about animals and yukky operations, so I opened it with very low expectations. But I soon found myself lying on the floor of a cow byre with cold cobbles digging in my back. I was captivated. And the more I read, the more I discovered that the books were not just about animals and operations. They were mostly about people. Yorkshire Dales people.
Much later, during the COVID Shutdown of 2020/21, I decided to bring a piece of James Herriot’s Yorkshire into my home by cooking some of the food that featured in the book ‘The Best of James Herriot‘. I created this website to record my progress [ see ‘Mrs Halls Cookbook‘. Since then I have added other items related to James Herriot such as a re-tracing the Youth Hostels walk that Alf Wight describes in ‘James Herriot’s Yorkshire‘ , researching his overseas trips and various other James Herriot related topics.
I don’t sell or advertise anything from this site, that’s not what it is for. I simply wanted to create a record of one of our country’s great authors and the people and places that he describes so vividly in his books.
Come with me and explore the magical world of James Herriot…
Roger.
I am the aunt of Derry Brabbs and have most of his books although I have just moved to a long term care home in Niagara on the Lake Ontario and have had to pair down a lot of my books. Kept all of Derry’s though. He started taking the photos for James Herriot as soon as he left Uni. and went on to work with other writers, at least ten with Wainwright for his walks.
Hello Dorothy, thank you so much for your message. Derry’s photos in the wainwright books are amazing and of course the photos in my favourite book, James Herriot’s Yorkshire have always enthralled me. So much, that I have re-visited many of the locations and re-captured those same locations again today as you have seen on this site. I hope Derry himself can get to look at some of the same scenes today and in particular those taken when I re-traced the Herriot YHA walk / chapter. Many times I felt that Derry Brabbs must have stood right here!
Captivating books
They certainly are Jeanette! When I mention his books, most times these days I get a response of ‘who’s he! ‘. But occasionally their face lights up and I know they have read them and been captivated by them just like you have. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Love James Herriot
Oh, I’m pleased you also admire his stories! There are other authors with more ‘high-brow’ works to their name, and good books they are too. But, for me, Alf (James Herriot’s real name) is a national treasure and his stories tell us so much about people. Their ups and downs, their mannerisms and their feelings. Thank you.