James Herriot Part II

After his time in the RAF Alf returned to Thirsk and the veterinary practice.  Donald Sinclair married soon after and had found a rich wife... So while he was still eager to work as a vet, he tended to depute a lot of hard labour to Alf. Alf too had married, in the early years of the War, and was in the RAF when his first son, Jimmy was born.  His wife, Joan was portrayed as Helen in the books... In the Books she was depicted as the daughter of a well to do farmer but actually Joan’s father had an office job. The couple would later have a second child, a daughter Rosemary. 

Brian did serve in the War, as a veterinary officer and when the war was over, he went into the Ministry of Agriculture.

Alf went on working, doing a large share of the work.  The practice had short term assistants, but Donald Sinclair was not keen to take on other partners.  As time Passed Alf developed health problems... Like many country vets at that time he contracted brucellosis, through contact with infected animals.  This often left him ill and feverish.  As he grew older he became prone to bouts of depression.

However he did not complain about his ill health and found that often the best cure for his depression was his never ending work.  He also enjoyed various hobbies, particularly reading and music.   In the 1960s he turned 50 and his wife challenged him to try and write something -.   He started to experiment with writing a novel.