Three camels visited Salisbury Cathedral today (9th December 2021) for the rehearsal of the Christmas Eve Family Nativity Service.

This year, the Christmas Eve Family Service at Salisbury Cathedral will feature three camels from Little Durnford, the cathedral’s regular donkey Jilly from Teffont, and giant 8ft Nativity puppets.

The camels, owned by Lady Chichester, are domestic Bactrian Camels and have two humps. Timujin is the grand old man of the trio. His companions Lena and Ivan are just four years old. The camels are a friendly bunch, well used to public appearances in support of charities including the Diocesan Sudan Link.

Bactrian camels originate from Northern Asia so the current chilly temperatures don’t bother Timujin, Lena and Ivan at all.

For the service itself, the camels will be ‘dressed’ in gorgeous fabrics, and their handlers will wear exotic costumes including fur hats imported from Beijing.

The puppets, camels and donkey will make their way up and down the Cathedral aisles and the nave, creatively re-imagining the story of the Nativity for the children.