1. Even as a young boy I loved being surrounded by animals. Here I am at my grandparents’ house with Judy, the Bedlington, and Paddy and Sue, the Jack Russells.
2. On a family holiday in Wales I never missed a chance to be with animals, in this case a goat.
3. While at vet school we had opportunities to visit other universities and this picture is at Leahurst, the equine unit of Liverpool’s vet school.
4. My Gran and me on my graduation day at Pembroke. Gran was a true inspiration to me and spent much of her life with animals. We were very close during the early part of my life.
5. This is my clinical group at vet school. We worked hard and played hard – from top left, Ben, me, Jenny, Cath and Claire.
6. Soon after starting work at Skeldale, my colleague Tim and I removed this massive lump from the neck of a heifer. It was bigger than a football.
7. A young Paddy and me relaxing on the sofa. He was just like a teddy bear!
8. Between my first stint at Skeldale and working with Anne in the Cotswolds, I explored the Himalayas. Mount Everest is in the background.
9. Dave Payne in the Swiss Alps, with the Matterhorn behind, where disaster would strike three weeks later.
10. Anne and me on our wedding day, 21 October 2000. It was a great day in Hampshire.
11. The Evil Salve, medicine for stupefying pigeons and other concoctions in the old cabinet upstairs at our practice in Thirsk.
12. Feeling the weight of two growing boys. Jack took his tennis balls everywhere with him and Archie looks pensive.
13. Anne, Jack and Archie on a summer day at Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate.
14. Roger and me training for our attempt at the world record for 24-hour rowing as a tandem on the Concept 2 indoor rowing machine. The screen on the left shows our distance, a new world record and an impressive average split of 1.58.5 for each 500m.
15. Another proud moment: representing Team GB, for my age group, in the European Middle-Distance Triathlon championships in Paguera, Mallorca, in 2014.
16. With my friend and colleague Peter Wright in an early publicity photograph for The Yorkshire Vet TV series. (Daisybeck Studios/GroupM Entertainment/Channel 5)
17. Examining a litter of pups is always a high point in our busy days. This is a very cute litter of Shih Tzu puppies. (Daisybeck Studios/GroupM Entertainment/Channel 5)
18. Performing a caesarean on a heifer at two o’clock on a bitterly cold morning, as producer-director Laura Blair, dressed in many layers of clothes, films every detail from a safe vantage point. It never ceases to amaze me how well our farm-animal patients will tolerate what they are sometimes subjected to. The heifer made a full recovery.
19. A moment to compare our animals. The Bell family are, quite rightly, proud of their beautiful stock, but surely my faithful Jack Russell terrier, Emmy, is the cutest?
20. Paul and Jane Blanchard with their pygmy goat. This one had a skin condition caused by a mite infestation. She was pretty scabby and sore, but responded well to the treatment. David fastidiously captures it all. (Daisybeck Studios/GroupM Entertainment/Channel 5)
21. Pregnancy testing a Whitebred Shorthorn cow. This is a standard part of our job and much of the time of a large animal vet is spent – literally – with his arm inside a cow’s backside.
22. Examining the testicles of a stock bull forms part of a pre-breeding examination. When squatting behind a bull, close to his back legs and directly under his tail, the risks are obvious!
23. Attempting to examine a pig – always a difficult task! Mangalitsa pigs are very unusual and covered in thick, woolly hair – and often have a mind of their own.
24. Farmer Lisa loves her pigs! They are not always as friendly as this. Her partner, standing out of shot, has a large and clumsy bandage on his right hand where his tendons have been lacerated by the tusks of an uncooperative sow.
25. Filming shots for the opening titles of The Yorkshire Vet above the White Horse of Kilburn. I persuaded the team we should meet at six a.m., the light was wonderful as the sun rose. (Daisybeck Studios/GroupM Entertainment/Channel 5)
26. Visiting the Great Yorkshire Show with Peter. We rarely get the chance to have an afternoon out together, even less so to look at healthy animals in top condition in the show ring. Izzy never missed a chance to capture these moments on film.
27. One of our more unusual patients – a chameleon: sitting here on the plastic model of a dog’s pelvis. (Daisybeck Studios/GroupM Entertainment/Channel 5)
28. Another nighttime call. This poor dog had inhaled a barley head and was coughing up blood. The seed head was very difficult to remove as it was lodged at the bottom of his lungs. It was painstaking work with my endoscope. (Daisybeck Studios/GroupM Entertainment/Channel 5)
29. A wonderful moment: I had just delivered this cria – a baby alpaca – after a very challenging ‘breech’ birth. I had to carefully unravel and unfold its (very long) legs to allow its safe delivery. Baby is sitting up already and mum looks relieved, if slightly bemused!
