A TV vet who worked with the real-life James Herriot has helped launch a touching new scheme to help owners remember their beloved pets.
Peter Wright, who stars on the Channel 5 shows The Yorkshire Vet and Springtime on the Farm, joined forces with Ifor Williams Trailers, who have factories in Denbighshire and Flintshire to roll out the nationwide memorial project.
The company supplied a trailer to transport a memorial bench to the World of James Herriot museum in Thirsk where the first tribute area has now opened.
The bench was transported to the museum by farming brothers Rob and Dave Nicholson, who regularly feature on Springtime on the Farm and whose Cannon Hall Farm visitor attraction near Barnsley is the setting for the popular show.
They were met at the museum by Peter Wright who worked with vet and author Alf Wight, better known by his pen name James Herriot.
James Herriot’s books about being a vet in the Yorkshire Dales have become worldwide hits and led to several TV and film adaptations, including the hugely successful All Creatures Great and Small series.
The opening of the pet memorial at the museum was featured on an episode of The Yorkshire Vet.
Peter Wright said the memorial at the museum would be the first of a series of pet benches to be installed around the country.
He said: “What we are going to do in about 10 different locations is put a bench where people can go and sit and remember their pets, in a similar way to what we have done at the World of James Herriot.
“The bench is situated in a lovely walled garden in a quiet area of the World of James Herriot, which used to be our veterinary practice until 1996.
“The walled garden was where we used to turn the dogs out when they were recuperating from procedures.
“Going back in time it was basically part of a Georgian house and it’s where Alf Wight – James Herriot – started and lived during the initial parts of his working career.
“He would walk up and down there with his dogs regularly, so it’s quite fitting to have it where it is.
“And I used to go as a school lad down to the practice when Alf Wight was there, he had only just started writing really, he had written two or three of his books by then, so I was in there pretty much from the outset.”
Peter said as part of the scheme, pet owners can acquire stainless steel plaques to be put into the museum’s memorial area.
He said: “The bench and the memorial wall is overlooked by a life-sized statue of James Herriot – it’s rather nice.
“A lot of people are reluctant to show grief because some people don’t understand and will say ‘it’s just a dog you’ve lost’.
“But there are a vast number, especially nowadays, where pets are very much part of the family.”
Peter said he wasn’t surprised Rob and Dave Nicholson used an Ifor Williams trailer to transport the memorial bench.
He said: “To me, I’ve always felt Ifor Williams is the summit as far as brands go.
“A lot of the farms I go on to have got Ifor Williams trailers and I always think the quality is superb.”
The bench brought to the museum by Rob and Dave Nicholson has a particularly poignant plaque installed – a tribute to their three-year-old Shire horse Herkules who died last June.
Rob Nicholson said the creation of the English Oak bench was organised by Peter Wright and the team at The Yorkshire Vet.
The brothers collected the bench from Coppice Creations at Kinlet in Worcestershire and took it to Thirsk for the launch of the pet memorial.
Rob said: “Peter comes very regularly to our farm and he had only been filming with Herkules for Springtime on the Farm a month or two prior to his passing.
“They were kind enough to have a bench made in memory of Herkules who tragically passed away due to colic last summer.
“It was a really lovely thing to do.
“The only consolation is that we have got three foals to Herkules expected this year so we are hoping that there can be at least something of a silver lining with the successful birth of those.”
Rob said the Ifor Williams trailer used to transport the bench to Thirsk was being used for various tasks at Cannon Hall Farm.
He said: “The fact it is so long and it has two dividing gates means that we can be more efficient in our transporting, and it gives more comfort to the animals.
“For example, we’ve used the trailer to return an American miniature stallion down to Kent, and we’ve used it to drop two Swiss Valais sheep and a miniature donkey off somewhere else in Kent.
“This trailer is the fifth Ifor Williams trailer that we’ve got.”
Dave Nicholson added: “The build quality on this trailer in particular is superb.
“I’m really impressed with this trailer and Ifor Williams keeps improving them.”
Henry Jackson from family firm Coppice Creations, based on the border of Worcestershire and South Shropshire on the edge of the Wyre Forest, said the company was delighted to be asked by The Yorkshire Vet’s production company to create the memorial bench.
John Gallery, marketing director, World of James Herriot, said: “We are delighted that the installation of the first Yorkshire Vet pet memorial is at the World of James Herriot
“It is testament to the ethos of James Herriot’s legacy.”
Dave Robinson from North Wales-based Ifor Williams Trailers said: “We’re thrilled to have played a role in the launch of the pet memorial at the World of James Herriot museum.”
