Felix The Railway Cat

And if this opening performance failed to elicit a response, she would up the ante. Sometimes she’d jump right into the customers’ laps if they were sitting on the benches with food. Inches from their faces she would stare fixedly at them, imploring them to give her just one little titbit, it was all she asked … and often they would feel so guilty under her gaze that they gave in. At times Felix would even hold people hostage, leaping onto their suitcases if she suspected they had food; the team thought it very likely that some people had even missed their trains because of her, not wanting to shift her but instead choosing to wait for the next service so they could have a few more minutes playing with the famous station cat. Even though her colleagues always told her off for this shocking behaviour – both the begging and the hostage-taking – Felix was Her Majesty, and she did as she pleased.

Some regular customers began bringing in cat treats for her, and Felix was delighted to see bags of Dreamies emerging from rucksacks and handbags as she waited on the platform and begged with those big green eyes. But Felix was a remarkably clever cat and knew all too well that the bags weren’t empty when they went back into their owner’s luggage. How could she get even more treats?

She started putting on a little show, in order to get as much as she possibly could. She could already sit on command, and now began expanding her repertoire. People used to say to her, ‘Come up for it,’ holding the treat above her head, so Felix learned to balance on her hind legs and reach for the stars. She would grab the customer’s proffered hand with her front paw and then take the treat, as though accepting it from them with a formal handshake. Or she might eat the treat directly from their hand, gobbling it down in one greedy guzzle. Then came the showstopper, the party piece, the big finish: Felix learned to catch treats with her two front paws.

She’d be balanced on her hind legs, watching the treat dangling above her, preparing to catch it with the precision of a heat-seeking missile. The treat-giver would ask her, ‘Ready …?’ Then they’d drop the treat. And Felix, clever little Felix, would slam her paws together and capture the titbit between them on its way down. Nom, nom, nom …

Naturally enough, Felix was rewarded for her antics and was more than happy to keep performing them; they became a regular spectacle at Huddersfield station. People would get out their cameras and smartphones and snap away – and the cat proved herself to be quite the poser, a performer who never suffered stage fright and would merrily execute her tricks for the cameras … at a price, of course (one cat treat). Across the local area, Felix soon became well-known for her talents.

Which was partly why, in July 2013, she got the call to join the world of entertainment. The station cat – for one day only – was asked to swap her railway duties for a turn in the spotlight, on stage at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford.

The producers there had spotted the rising star and invited her to make her theatrical debut. They were putting on a production of Rising Damp and needed to cast a brilliant cat in the role of Vienna, Rigsby’s moggy. Felix bore a real resemblance to the cat who’d played the role in the 1970s TV series, so as soon as the creative team learned of her existence – and saw her adorable face in the local paper – they knew she had to join the cast.

At the time the call came in, Felix was already familiar with some of the razzle-dazzle of drama and dance. The Head of Steam wasn’t the only pub in the station to have a live-music night; the King’s Head regularly played host to several bands, too. So Felix was accustomed to hearing the strains of the musical instruments drifting out over the platforms, and she and Angie would often walk along together in rhythm with the tunes.

‘Come on, Felix,’ Angie would say, ‘let’s have a little boogie!’

It was Paul, the station manager, who took the call from the big-shot producers, and he and Dave Chin were the ones who drove Felix to her appointment in the limelight. She wouldn’t be performing live – instead, she had been invited onto the set to meet the cast, and with them would be having some staged photographs taken which would be used in publicity and on the theatrical posters displayed outside the theatre. Given her temperamental disposition at the time, however, neither Paul nor Dave was quite sure how she would behave. This would be one of the first times Felix had been taken away from the station and into an uncontrolled environment …