England - Thirsk, Another St Mary's Interior Window Shot

Saw this after stepping a few feet to the left of yesterday's position.

England - Thirsk, Church Candles with Window

Couldn't decide on which of these was better so here they are side by side.  If you like candle shots in churches try this one, this one, or this one.

England - Thirsk, St Mary's Sanctuary Shot #2

Stepping in closer to the altar yielded this view, featuring a warmer tone with basically just one source of light coming in through the window from the right.

England - Thirsk, St Mary's Sanctuary Shot #1

I really do like the insides of old churches, for several reasons.  For one thing they're usually empty (except for tourists in some places)...not a lot of people to be getting in the way of your shots.  For another there's usually lots of color with all the stained glass, especially on sunny days.  And thirdly but certainly not lastly the lighting is almost always a beautiful challenge - beautiful in that the light streaming in from high-up windows plays well with what's inside, and challenging in that the light is usually low, so a steady hand is a must.

This particular scene is not the main sanctuary but one that's off to the right as you step in.

England - Thirsk, Ancient Door Within a Door

England - Thirsk, Ancient Door

Every parishioner has also passed through this door, which is also some 500 years old.  The rector was very proud to show us how it's hung so well that it's easy to open, even with your pinky finger.  And something that we didn't notice at first, but was proudly pointed out to us by said rector, was a smaller door built within the door, a pic of which shall be posted tomorrow.  Couldn't help but wonder at the reason for doing this, but didn't ask.

I didn't look to get many keepers from this visit, as the insides of churches are notoriously dark and all my shots would be hand-held, but did manage to snap a few that were blogworthy.

England - Thirsk, Ancient Graffiti

One thing that Saint Mary's is famous for is this graffiti, etched into the stone some 500 years ago.  Every parishioner through the centuries has passed by these on their way into the church for service...

England - Thirsk, Churchyard Gravestones #2

These guys were at the entrance to the church...view toward the entryway below:

England - Thirsk, Churchyard Gravestones #1

England - Thirsk, Saint Mary's Church Exteriors from Kirkgate

Alf Wight and his wife, Joan, were married just down the street from home, in Saint Mary's church, seen here in the distance with a closer view below.  I was surprised to learn that there were only five or six people in attendance, including the couple.

England - Thirsk, Old Piano in 23 Kirkgate

In Alf Wight's old house but wasn't his.  Very similar to a cruise post from Key West...

England - Thirsk, Flowers in the Long Garden

England - Thirsk, Flowers Next to 23 Kirkgate

These were to the left of the entrance at 23 Kirkgate...

England - Thirsk, Shingle at 23 Kirkgate

A look at any photograph taken of the clinic while Alf Wight worked there will show this sign affixed onto the brick next to the door.  It's amazing that he, along with Don Sinclair, kept a full-time practice going even after the books made him world famous.  Humility stands out as one of his greatest traits.

This is the last to be posted relating to Alf Wight's practice.  It was awesome being here but, sadly, I did note that a vast majority of the other tourists making their way through 23 Kirkgate were older, white-haired Brits in their seventies and eighties.  Granted, we were there on a school day during school hours, but I couldn't help but wonder whether, when these people are no longer here, will James Herriot remain the icon that he is today?  Will interest be gone also, leaving a relic that is largely vacant and forgotten?  Haven't met a young person recently that's heard of James Herriot or read his books, but would like to think that they will experience a renewed look by another generation.

On another subject, I must say that one of the most interesting things I heard on the trip was some of the Brits, with whom we shared breakfast at a B&B in North Yorkshire, referring to James Herriot as Alf Wight, his real name.  They either knew him or knew someone who knew him, or even had a farm where he made his calls.  Really personified someone who is a bigger-than-life character in my eyes.  And the lady who ran the place had the noticeably thick Yorkshire accent so beautifully written within his works.  This is a trip that I will never forget, and this bucket list item was checked off in a big way.

The next three posts have nothing to do with James Herriot, but were captured on or about the premises.  Then off to the church down the street, where he was married...

England - Thirsk, An Examination Room at 23 Kirkgate

Glowing Edges below:

England - Thirsk, The Dispensary at 23 Kirkgate #2

Swinging the Bigger Cahoona to the right yielded this view in the dispensary at 23 Kirkgate, with glowing edges below:

England - Thirsk, The Dispensary at 23 Kirkgate #1

"The dispensary was an important place in the days before penicillin and the sulphonamides.  Rows of gleaming Winchester bottles lined the white walls from floor to ceiling." (Chapter 3)

Glowing edges, then the found edges effect in Photoshop below:

England - Thirsk, The Pint Pot

"She [a newly-hired secretary] straightened up slowly and spoke patiently.  'And where, may I ask, is your cash box?'
     'Well, we just stuff it in there, you know.'  Siegfried pointed to the pint pot on the corner of the mantelpiece.  'Haven't got what you'd call a proper cash box, but this does the job all right.' " (Chapter 14)

This is the very pint pot that was the subject of interest, according to the docent.

England - Thirsk, Fireplace at 23 Kirkgate

"It was always a good time when the work of the day was through and the three of us lay back in the shabby armchairs and stretched our feet out to the blaze." (Chapter 7)

Texted the wife while here that I could not believe that I was actually standing in the very room mentioned so many times in the stories of Wight's early days with the practice...a place fixed in my imagination as I read through them (though not entirely accurately as it turns out).  None of the furniture here, nor in the rest of the house for that matter, belonged to the Wights or Sinclairs, but is of the period and would at least resemble what had been here.  Next focus will be on the mantle...

England - Thirsk, Phone Ledge at 23 Kirkgate

"There was only one phone in the house.  It rested on a ledge in the tiled passage downstairs." (Chapter 7)

This is the original phone ledge, but not the original phone, according to the docent.  Pretty close to the picture I imagined whenever it was mentioned in the stories.

England - Thirsk, Acacia Tree Spot (?)

"My head began to ache as I shuffled through the french window into the garden.  I flopped down among the knee deep grass on the lawn and rested my back against a towering acacia tree." (Chapter 2)

As the story goes, he fell asleep under that tree and woke up with Siegfried looking down at him in their first encounter.  Looking back toward the house it's obvious that the acacia tree is no longer there, but it's easy to imagine that it might have been close to this statue, or even to the left where the brick building, which is a veterinary science museum, now stands.

England - Thirsk, Long High-Walled Garden at 23 Kirkgate

"We turned right at the end into another passage and I was beginning to wonder just how far back the house extended when I was shown into a sunlit room. ... One end was taken up by a french window which gave on a long, high-walled garden." (Chapter 2)

England - Thirsk, Long Passageway at 23 Kirkgate

"The upper half of the door was of glass and, as I peered through [after ringing the doorbell], a river of dogs poured round the corner of a long passage and dashed itself with frenzied yells against the door. ... I was thinking of ringing the bell again when I saw a large woman in the passage. ... The woman looked bigger than ever with the door open."  (Chapter 2)

Another view of the long passage below.  A docent there told us the tiles are original, there since the beginning:

England - Thirsk, Second Exterior of 23 Kirkgate

"Now that I was here, right on the doorstep, I felt breathless, as though I had been running.  If I got the job, this was where I would find out about myself." (Chapter 2)

England - Thirsk, First Exterior of 23 Kirkgate

A lengthy description of this building, serving at the time as both a business and a house, is given in chapter two of All Creatures Great and Small, and is "spot on" with what you see here, though the names were changed - the town Thirsk became Darrowby, the street Kirkgate became Trentgate, etc.  (After reading the book for the first time I remember trying to find Darrowby on a map, to no avail.)  

"Trentgate was a quiet street leading off the square and I had my first sight of Skeldale House. ... There was no front garden and only the railings separated the house from the street a few feet away." (Chapter 2)

England - Thirsk, Town Clock

As stated in earlier posts at the beginning of this series, it has been a bucket list item for decades to visit "Herriot Country" and trod the same territory as did Alf Wight during his legendary career.  I say "legendary" career, whereas actually his storytelling was what was legendary in an otherwise ordinary successful practice.  Anyone desiring to be a writer would do well to study his approach to writing and his extraordinary dedication to the craft.  And not to be forgotten is his wife, who challenged him to dig his finished manuscripts out of a drawer after innumerable rejections.  Though his life began just over a hundred years ago, in 1916, and his stories emerged from this very town almost eighty years ago, in 1940, the totality of his life still remains an inspiration to me and millions of others.

At times, from that chapter and others, I will include here a few very short snippets that point to what you see in the pictures posted, more/less in the order described, starting here with Dr. Wight's impressions of what he saw in the town square for the first time:

"The only visible sign of life was a group of old men sitting round the clock tower in the centre of the square, but they might have been carved from stone." (Chapter 2)

England - Honister Slate Mine, Three Figures

Am including this focus-shift example, a little more subtly shifted than yesterday's post, as the last to be posted from the slate mine series.  Next to Byland Abbey this was my favorite shoot of the trip.

Next - on to Thirsk and JAMES HERRIOT COUNTRY!

England - Honister Slate Mine, Picnic Table Again

Tighter shot from yesterday's post, with focus shifted below:

England - Honister Slate Mine, Picnic Table

Saw these chains as we were hanging around before the tour began and leapt at the opportunity to take a picture of something through something.

England - Honister Slate Mine, Cubic Sculpture

...a different perspective on the sculpture featured in the post that was published back on Christmas day.

England - Honister Slate Mine, Picnic Table

This was a scene I was hoping to get on the return trip, when the mist and fog weren't so thick.  They didn't have a snack shop or restaurant in the place, but suppose someone could bring a picnic lunch and settle down here.

More on this table later...