Friday evening was the launch of the Thirsk Parishes Festival Weekend – celebrating the shared creativity of Thirsk and our Herriot Heritage – at St Mary’s Church, and frankly it could not have gone better, even had we heard the crack of a champagne bottle across the bows. Goodness,who needs the crack of a bottle when we had Prosecco and canapes to start the proceedings… And what proceedings.
To start us off Rev. Derek Simpson read The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins, his voice resonating throughout the wonderful Church, with its excellent accoustics, and more than a hint of grandeur.
Not to be outdone, Izzy Robinson, (seen here with Jim Wight and Matthew Atherton), a talented eleven year old at school in Thirsk, who is a Ripon chorister and very much into music, maths and all things medical, took over from Derek with her first solo performance. She aced it, treating us to an accomplished piano rendition of Sneaky Business, by M Mier and swiftly moving on to sing, with Matthew accompanying on the piano, All things Bright and Beautiful (illustration by Izzy and lyrics by CF Alexander, composer J Rutter). Heavens, we were really into the swing of things as we sipped fizz, chomped on canapes, and wondered if Thirsk Parishes could please put on these events more often.
Jim Wight Photographs of the TV series All Creatures Great and Small
A roll of drums could have been usefully employed to introduce Jim Wight, the veterinary son of the world’s most famous and beloved vet, James Herriot, aka Alf Wight. Oh, what a joyous start to the Herriot Heritage section of the evening, with Jim recapping ‘How it all began’. All Alf, wanted to do was to write about the already disappearing small farmers’ world, and his life as a vet in those times ‘for his family’. Each rejection brought about a rewrite, each rewrite improved the book until… Well, you know the rest, and now these books are a lasting testament to life as it was, people as they were. Jim had us laughing, remembering, and beneath it all was an undercurrent of ‘Bless that man for telling it as it was’.
The Rev Carmel Gittens then guided the audience in a meditation to music by S Davey and R Connolly with images by Loyola Hall showing on the screens on the pillars of the church before we eased seamlessly into Matthew Atherton, on the piano, evoking the Herriot Legacy by playing the TV theme from 1978 as only this superb musician can; impeccably and with lashings of heart. Was I the only one thinking:1978? Surely not – I still feel thirtyfive-ish. Then, with the usual Atherton aplomb he walzed and slouched into Promenade – Walking the Dog by George Gershwin, having warned us that there was what sounded like a wrong note, which he felt indicated a bit of a whoopsie on the part of the dog. Boy, did we wait for that note – then, of course, sniggers along the pews.
Am I dashing through this? Well, there’s so much to cover, and we were all carried on a wave of enthusiasm, and still are, and are full of thanks for our Churches various celebrations of music and the creative arts: not long ago the Coronation Concert, and a couple of weeks ago the Chamberlain-Haywood Duo at St Lawrence Church. Hang on, though, as I’ve just mentioned the creative arts, let’s take a quick look at St Mary’s art gallery. Yes, here we are, starting really young to celebrate the early days of artistic endeavour.
Jim Wight took over the microphone again to chat us through Part 2 of the Herriot legacy and how it has affected the area. We hung on his every word as he continued to bring James Herriot’s world to life through anecdotes and remembrance.
After the laughter, Julie Bates on violin, accompanied by Matthew Atherton on piano soared into Largo by Handel, and Meditation by Massenet which allowed tranquility and beauty to settle amongst us, and as always it made me cry – beautiful music always does. Dick dug out a tissue – as he also always does. This was continued by Phil Dargue as he spoke of ‘A Glimpse of Creation – the beauty of hummingbirds’ – which he and his son had photographed on their travels to South America. We were treated to extraordinary images on the Church screens.
Golden Tailed Sapphire
A blink of an eye later, we were back in North Yorkshire as Jim Wight walked to the lecturn carrying one of his father’s books. To hear those tales read by a son who had followed in his father’s profession, and actually knew the people his father brought to life was a rare privilege. It reminded us all that the Herriot Hospice@The Lambert is even as we speak being created in the old Lambert Hospital within Thirsk, a venture of which his father would surely heartily approve.
Already on a wave of emotion we were almost finished off by Matthew Atherton as he played the Trumpet Voluntary by J Stanley, and then Chaffinch by JM Kidd. The thing is, you see, until you hear Matthew play the organ you simply don’t understand the height, breadth and sheer range of the organ; its nuances, its ability to transport one onto a different level. On this Friday evening, in the breathless hush, it was played by Matthew the master. Another tissue from Dick. We were all so proud of Matthew, of everyone, and the rafters almost lifted with the applause, and we all thought this finale couldn’t possibly be topped.
Well, we were wrong, because then we launched into the concluding hymn, How Great Thou Art. Thankfully Dick and I had Phil Dargue without his hummingbirds standing in the pew behind, with the most sublime voice. So of course we hung onto his coat-tails and where his voice went, ours tried to follow. Then it was the turn of yet more riotous applause, and the raising of our glasses to toast a fabulous evening of diverse, satisfying and exceptional talent and creativity.
Clamouring, chatting, laughing we tumbled out into Thirsk, with the words of one of the audience echoing in our heads. ‘Matthew plays in our church, and at the end of the service, he plays us out, but we don’t go, we stay and listen.‘ Yes, indeed.
Bravo everyone, and now I will be re-reading yet again, the James Herriot books, always available at the James Herriot Museum which was his home. How lucky we all are to live in such a wonderful community. Thank you, Thirsk.
https://worldofjamesherriot.com/ And of course, Amazon.
https://www.herriothh.org.uk/ https://www.thelambert.org.uk/