The famous fictional books All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot and set in the Yorkshire village of Darroughby were actually written by Alfred Wight and were based on his veternary practice in Thirsk, Yorkshire. Thanks to a good friend I got a wonderful chance to see this town.
This is a historical picture of Thirsk, what James Herriot before WWII would have seen:
And this is Thirsk today:
So you can see, it hasn’t changed much. Interestingly, Dr. Wight wasn’t intentionally trying to trick anyone. There were very strict laws in England at the time that prevented doctors and veterinarians from advertising, so it was necessary for him to change the names and places.
PS. What I find fascinating is the color variation you can see on the lower photograph, which approximately follows the original road shown in the top drawing. Are we seeing visible signs of the archeology? Only one way to find out: dig a test trench!