Baby alpaca named through Facebook

A baby Alpaca at an award winning Durham tourist attraction has been given a name thanks to Facebook, a six year old boy and his two year old brother.

Callum (6) and Oakley Rhodes (2), from Willington, County Durham named the newborn Alpaca at Hall Hill Farm in a competition organised through the social networking website Facebook. The winning name was Barnaby, suggested by the two boys because the Alpaca, who has beautiful brown eyes, reminded them of their teddy bear.

The boys visited the Alpaca at Hall Hill Farm with mother Any Coombes and have now adopted Barnaby and received a cuddly toy Alpaca each to care for at home. Amy said: "Callum and Oakley had a really great time at the farm and loved seeing Barnaby again. They want to say a big thank you to Hall Hill Farm for the adoption pack and cuddly alpaca’s! They have the pictures of Barnaby on their bedroom walls too!"

Ann Darlington, Tourism Manager, Hall Hill Farm said: "We created our Facebook page so we could improve communications with our visitors. It has proven useful in interacting with visitors, providing farm information as well as gathering suggestions, comments and even names for our animals. The name Barnaby stood out and seemed a perfect name for the farm’s youngest Alpaca."

Other names suggested included: Toffee, Caramel, Fudge, Inca, Alfie, Nuzzle, Scratch and Sugar.


Hall Hill Farm, which employs up to 50 people, welcomes around 60,000 visitors every year attracted by the family fun on offer and the opportunities to see and touch animals at close quarters. Visitors can bottle feed lambs, see fluffy chicks, inquisitive goats, magnificent Highland Cattle and get close to children’s favourites such as guinea pigs and rabbits, as well as enjoy a tractor or donkey ride around the beautiful countryside.

The County Durham farm, which opened in 1981, is very much a family business. Situated on a 291 hectare site near to Lanchester, Hall Hill Farm is owned by Jack & Pat Gibson, whose son David runs the working farm and livery and daughter Ann Darlington manages the Visitor Enterprise. It has recently been awarded the title of ’Farm Attraction of the Year’ for the UK and was named Best Tourism Experience of the Year at the 2010 North East England Tourism Awards.