There wasn’t much to do in Darrowby but boredom was never a problem. At the beginning, in the summer days, we walked every day along the grassy tracks in the hills which make Yorkshire the finest walking country in England.
We started too cultivate a piece of the long garden behind the house for our own use and I discovered an undreamed of fascination in peas and broad beans.
We picked mushrooms which may not sound very exciting but I have warm memories of the two of us wandering around sunlit fields with carrier bags and stopping now and then to look at the beauty nearby. In those days before the old permanent pastures were ploughed up and artificial fertilizers were scarcely used mushrooms grew abundantly; and they were marvellous to eat.
There was tennis, too, and at weekends Helen came with me on my [vet country] rounds.
– James Herriot. Talking about his life with his wife Helen. (Vet In Harness – his 4th bestseller)