Doris and Delilah welcome lonely Granville to the dale

A LONELY camel who lost his partner has found a new family at a dale farm.

Granville the Bactrian camel was left on his own at South Lakes Safari Zoo, in Cumbria, following the death of his partner.

Now Granville has new company in the form of Doris and Delilah, Mainsgill farm’s resident camels.

Granville arrived at the farm on Tuesday, December 19, but the shy camel was reluctant at first to emerge from the trailer that brought him to the farm.

Andrew Henshaw, of Mainsgill, said: “He arrived last night but he won’t come out.

“We are happy to have him, he is good company for Doris and Delilah.”

Mr Henshaw and his wife Maria have kept camels for many years, having got their first not long after opening the farm shop at Mainsgill.

He said: “We got a camel because everyone was opening farm shops with the usual llamas, alpacas and rhea. Maria said we needed something different.”

Their first camel was sourced from Austria.

The Bactrian camels, which originate from Russia, are ideal for Teesdale’s climate because they can endure extreme temperatures ranging from -25C to 30C and spend the year round outdoors.

Another tradition being continued at Mainsgill is the Christmas hay bale sculpture, which this year features two turkeys at the farm shop entrance.

Past Christmases have seen hay bail creations of penguins and igloos, camels and the three wise men.

Sculptures are also put up to mark special occasions such as Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton, the coalition government and Strictly Come Dancing.