While most of the writing of this book has been a solitary process, carried out in the early hours of the morning, the same cannot be said for the stories of which the book is made. Were it not for my workmates, clients and their animals, there would not be a book at all. So my first and biggest thank you must be to my colleagues at Skeldale Veterinary Centre, Thirsk, and in particular to Peter, Tim and, at the beginning, Jim. It has been a great privilege to work here alongside you, and it is a truly unique place to work. Thanks also to Jim for writing the foreword – and for underlining the very special links that still exist between your father and the modern practice in Thirsk today.
Thank you to the clients of this practice, who have been, and continue to be, lovely, honest and genuine. It has been a great pleasure to treat all your pets and farm animals over the years. Special thanks to the Bell family, for their time and the loan of handsome calves, sheep and horses for photo shoots (the lovely South Devon calf on the front of this book is typical of their beautiful stock). Theirs is the first farm in the practice that I ever visited, although it was before I was a vet. While walking the ‘Coast to Coast’ walk as a sixteen-year-old with a couple of schoolmates, I passed this farm and walked up their drive. Little did I know that, eight years later, I would become intimately involved with the health and welfare of the animals on this farm. Your friendship and, seemingly unswerving, faith in my clinical judgment have been ever present in my time working at Skeldale. Thank you.
Also, were it not for the television series, The Yorkshire Vet, writing this book would have been a much more difficult proposition. I am very grateful to Paul Stead of Daisybeck Studios in Leeds, for approaching us in the spring of 2015 and for his faith in our ability to hold together not one but three series of programmes. Your encouragement, commitment and fervour have been brilliant. Moreover, the team of directors, producers and editors has been a joy to work with. When being filmed we are completely at your mercy and we are all extremely grateful for your sympathetic treatment! Producer directors Izzy Arrieta, David Terry and especially Laura Blair, I’ll never forget the funny, emotional and sometimes smelly moments we have enjoyed together. Series producer, Lou Cowmeadow, thank you for being so great and looking after us all. Also, enormous thanks to Natasha Jarvis, associate producer in series two, for your unflagging enthusiasm and also for your brilliant photos featured here on the front and back cover.
Thanks go to the staff at Michael O’Mara Books, particularly my editor, Louise Dixon, and publicist, Clara Nelson for so positively engaging with this book; you have both been a great help and made this first effort such fun. Another person without whom there would be no book is my agent, David Riding, from MBA Literary Agents, who spotted the potential after the first episode of series one. Thank you for your vision!
My heartfelt thanks must go to my family: my parents and sister for their perennial support, despite their increasing incredulity at my situation, but more particularly to Anne and our boys, Jack and Archie. Despite many hours away from home – on call, training and, more recently, writing, I have never heard a single complaint from any of you and I am so grateful – thank you.
Finally, to Anne, thank you for putting up with my occasional grumpy tempers – and all my other faults – and also for expertly editing this text. Mine was the easy bit because the stories were in my head, but knocking them into readable sense was the hard bit. Without you, both this book and my life in general would be considerably less good!