VIDEO: World Owl Centre ready to take flight at Himley Park
Staff and volunteers have been hard at work getting ready for the opening of a new owl sanctuary on the Black Country - South Staffordshire border.
The World Owl Centre is being created at Himley Park.
More than 20 years' worth of debris and undergrowth is being shifted from the two and a half-acre derelict site to make way for the sanctuary.
It will be run by the World Owl Trust, which holds some of the finest and most diverse collection of breeding birds in the UK.
MP for South Staffordshire Gavin Williamson mucked in during a visit to the site which will eventually be home to 60 aviaries plus and education centre, tea room and shop. The area has been neglected since 1995 when a model village and miniature railway was closed down.
The centre is on track to open to visitors next spring and it is hoped people will come from far and wide to see the collection of birds. Around 20 staff are expected to be taken on.
The World Owl Trust cares for some 190 birds of 52 species to ensure they are preserved.
Chairman Alan Peace, who lives in Wombourne, said: "This project is a very exciting one for the trust and the World Owl Centre is going to become a major attraction where visitors will be able to see examples of some owl species which they cannot see anywhere else in the world.
"It is going to provide opportunities for both employment and volunteering. A large part of the work of the trust is with schools and young people in the Midlands will be given the opportunity to study birds at close quarters."
