News of Tortoise's Fiftieth Birthday
Travels Fast

A tortoise celebrating his fiftieth birthday, has received a birthday card all the way from sunny California!

Sheldon, a giant tortoise who is one of the favourites of children visiting the Down at the Farm hands on farm attraction at Houghton-le-Spring, in North East England, was recently treated to an appropriately sized tortoise birthday cake to mark his special occasion.

News of this must have reached California, leading to two children - Mia aged six and Mason aged four - sending a birthday card all the way from their home town of Valencia, in the West coast state. The card came complete with tortoise sticker, as an added touch for Sheldon.

Down at the Farm owner, Catherine Weightman, says: "We were absolutely amazed when the card arrived for our tortoise and can only assume that these children found out about Sheldon's birthday through the internet, which certainly proves that news travels far - and fast!".

"Unfortunately, we can't reply to thank Mia and Mason for their thoughtfulness, as no address was included. This is such a shame, as we would love to send them an adoption pack as a thank you. We can only hope they hear about this, so that we can get in touch and show them how pleased we were to receive their best wishes."

Many children arrived to help Sheldon celebrate his birthday when the farm attraction re-opened for the season on March 21 and many more are expected over Easter.

Now, the farm is deciding where to put the special birthday card, so that Mia and Mason's efforts can be appreciated by other visitors closer to home.