ramtops

we set off from home late morning, intending to have lunch at Barry Island. Unfortunately, so had everyone else, it seemed, and there wasn't a parking place to be had.

our intention was to visit Barry Hawking Centre and what passes for their web site says that there's a cafe, so we knew that *some* sustenance would be available, so we pressed on.

the cafe was closed. The grounds were incredibly dreary, there were hardly any bits of information about the birds, there weren't all that many birds, in fact - well, not birds of prey (apart from quite a few eagle owls), but lots of hens and swans. I guess the chickens are there to produce chickies for the raptors to scoff, and the swans ... well, your guess is as good as mine.

I'd phoned to see what time they were doing flight demonstrations; 12.30 and 3, they said, so we made sure we were there in good time. We hung about the flying area, where absolutely no sign of any birds or flying was going on, so we returned to the kiosk to enquire. "Oh no" , they said. "The falconer didn't turn up."

what sort of hawking centre doesn't have its own falconer, FFS? You have to fly your birds regularly. The place really is a shambles - run down, untidy, and very disappointing.

so, should you be looking for somewhere to go on a day out, may I strongly recommend that you don't bother with this place .

but there was this beautiful tawny eagle, so not all was lost.

we did other things too - more on that story later.