Welsh Hawking Centre & Animal Park

I was looking forward to visiting as I had passed the sign a hundred times on my way to Barry and I’d been meaning to check it out for a while.
I took my two neices and we had an ok time. The birds were really interesting and it’s great to get up close and personal with a bird of prey.
There were scheduled events where the birds would come out and do a display and we stayed for one of those which was quite fine.
The main issue was that there was not a whole lot to see and we had exhausted everything quite a while before the display was due to take place. So everyone was a bit bored by then.
The other issue was that the whole place looked like it needed a bit of TLC and more importantly a bit of financial investment. This may well have happened by now but at the time there were few facilities you normally find at these places. It all seemed very well meaning but a bit under –resourced. Neither of my neices who love animals have wanted to go back, which is a pity.

I’m not keen on seeing birds of prey in captivity, but I have been to this hawking centre once and it does offer you the rare chance to see these incredible birds up close.
They have about 200 birds of prey, from small birds right up to huge owls and falcons.
You can wander around the site looking at the birds, then watch the centre’s falconry displays when you can witness the speed of the falcons and the silent flight of an owl — sometimes with the chance to have one of the birds fly on to your gloved hand. You also get the chance to ask questions about the birds and take photographs.
There’s enough to see to spend a couple of hours there, but for those who are really interested in falconry they even offer a range of different courses. There’s the ‘Owl Experience’ course, for example, and a one-​day workshop in falconry — right up to a five day Lantra Course, designed for those planning to own their own bird, which leads to the nationally recognised LANTRA award.

While a little dilapadated this is still a great day out for young children. You need a car to get here as there is no public access for walkers, unless you waht to walk down a very busy lane, but with a reasonable entry fee this is worth a visit.