On my Sunday off while seeing practice near Lancaster I decided to drive over through the Yorkshire Dale to visit the Herriot Museum.  The drive over was lovely with views of the countryside used in the TV series.  Tons of stone fences and small meadows.  Each meadow has its own stone barn for storing the hay. The area is famous for its cheese, Wensleydale cheese, made only from local milk (the favorite in Wallace and Gromit).

The museum itself was quite a bit larger than I expected and is located in his original surgery.  The waiting room, surgery room, exam room, breakfast room etc are all restored as they would have been in his early years.  There is a barn recreation which houses a 20minute movie about his live and the film series and there is also a very good collection of antique veterinary instruments and a children's activity area.  Additionally, they have recreated many of the sets from the TV series.

James Alfred Wight, a.k.a. James Herriot, authored numerous books which have been make into several movies and a TV series by the BBC. He grew up in Glasgow, near where I lived my second year, and attended vet school in Glasgow.  He later moved to Thirst in Northern England where he practiced until he retired.

For more information about his life and written works visit Wikipedia