A dream that’s taken flight

Ruddy-faced and wind burned from working in outside all winter, Charlie Heap reels off his work schedule for the past 14 months and admits he’s absolutely shattered,.

He had one week off but only to recover from a burst appendix and he defied the doctor who prescribed a post-operative six weeks rest.

“I’m not very good at sitting still,” he says, as he careers round at 100 miles an hour, multi-tasking and fizzing with an energy born from enthusiasm.

He has just built Yorkshire’s latest tourist attraction, the International Centre for Birds of Prey at Duncombe Park in Helmsley. It is a Northern branch of the ICBP in Newent, Gloucestershire, run by Jemima Parry-Jones and he’s done it almost single-handedly from constructing the aviaries to project managing contractors and dealing with planners and paperwork. The centre is the fulfilment of a long-held ambition, sparked at the age of 11 when he saw his first falcon. It was a “Kes” moment that had a transformational effect on the painfully shy child.

“I was at Chatsworth Country Fair with my parents in 1981. They had a stand for two days. I saw Jemima’s birds and I was mesmerised. I spent so long staring that she eventually noticed me and I ended up in the ring pulling the dummy-bunny for her Harris Hawk.

“She’s the first to admit she doesn’t like children but what is wonderful is that she treats them like adult. I loved that and it really helped my confidence.”

He got himself a common buzzard, trained it and developed a deep friendship with Jemima, who runs the centre founded by her father in 1967. He spent school holidays at Newent while Jemima taught him all she knew and nurtured his talent for handling the birds

After agricultural college, he worked flying falcons at Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland before becoming a property developer.

“Falconry has always been my great love and I kept in touch with Jemima. She is an incredible woman and she runs the best bird of prey centre around. It leads the field in captive breeding, education and conservation. It is the centre that all other places have to be judged against. Her knowledge and experience is unmatched,” says Charlie, 42, who decided to open at Duncombe after the property market crash.

“It’s something I always wanted but it was a big decision. Fortunately my wife has a proper job and she encouraged me to go for it.” He remortgaged his house to help raise the £400,000 needed.

Finding a location proved easy. He approached the Duncombe Park estate in Helmsley and they said “yes” immediately.

“It is a beautiful spot and, incredibly, Jemima has a family link. Captain Knight, her great-uncle, used to obtain merlins from the moors at Duncombe and he and his famous Golden Eagle, Mr. Ramshaw, were regular visitors,” says Charlie.

“The estate manager, Ian Saggers, and Jake Duncombe have been incredibly supportive. We were lucky too that the site they have leased us was an army training camp in the war and so there already concrete bases for the aviaries. Otherwise I doubt the North York Moors National Park would’ve given us planning permission.”

They did but only after a fight and a long delay, during which time Charlie took a gamble and started buying timber and pre-fabricating the aviaries.

Although he has funded the venture, Jemima is a co-director and has bequeathed him the ICBP name and the experience she has gained over the past 45 years.

She also helped provide him with a right hand woman, Anabelle de Chazal, and with the birds. The most rare are the Steller’s sea eagles native to Siberia and the biggest is the Great Grey Owl. Almost all are bred in captivity.

The beauty of these birds of prey is hard to convey even on the very best photographs. Close up they are hypnotic and it’s easy to see why see why Charlie was bewitched by them.

The owls in particular have you spellbound and even the Griffon Vultures, whose aviary sports a “Keep Calm and Carrion” sign, are endearing with fluffy white heads and fat, ungainly bodies. One has lost a wing and has been given an aviary with a larger than average floor area.

“Vultures aren’t rare though the ICBP’s knowledge of them is important. Jemima is advising out in India at the moment, where populations of them are being wiped out. They are poisoned by eating the carcasses of sacred cows that had been treated with diclofenac, a common livestock analgesic,” says Charlie.

The centre, which also has a shop and tearoom, is not just about attracting visitors, conservation and education is also important. “For me it’s the education value. This isn’t a Victorian menagerie. There are ethical reasons for it. We provide a genetic reservoir and every bird we have is an am ambassador for its species,” he says.

“Allowing people to see them and appreciate them is crucial in raising awareness. The Spectacled Owl from South America lives in the rainforest. We might read about that habitat being destroyed, we might watch it on the telly but when we see these birds we can make a direct connection. It means something. ” says Charlie, who is also planning flying displays, hawking and owl evenings.

Some may feel uncomfortable with birds in cages, but the ICBP’s are large and designed using all their knowledge of behaviour.

“These aren’t wild birds. They are bred in captivity so it is all they know, but where most aviaries are long and thin, ours are more square because we think the birds prefer it.

“They don’t fly much, even in the wild. It is only when they need to eat. Given the choice they wouldn’t fly at all. They’d sit on a branch all day. That can be an issue with flying displays. Frankly, they’d rather not bother but we entice them to do it with food.”

Eagles are the most difficult to train. They are highly intelligent and soon work out that even if they misbehave they’ll still get fed sooner or later.

Most of the birds used in the displays are tethered outside. This is the conventional way of keeping them though Charlie has departed from tradition by building luxury homes.

They have wooden shelters complete with electric heaters and doors that can be closed on cold nights.

“Flying birds can get frostbite, which is absolutely terrible. It can get the tips of their wings, which means they will never fly again. It’s a bit like a horse breaking its leg. We’ve prevented that,” he says.

Talking about this has made him emotional. Although most aren’t named he and Anabelle know and love the birds.

Each has its own personality and the quirkiest is the little Barn Owl, who like to sleep lopsided on the floor rather than on a perch. “He’s a bit odd and he sleeps a lot. He’s like a teenage boy,” says Anabelle.

The two tiny Southern White-faced Owls do a manic, synchronised dance as you approach and the pair of golden eagles are also quite comical. The nine-year-old female is twice the size of the 18-year-old male she has been paired with and she clearly fancies him.

“She’ll go and perch next to him and nuzzle him but he’s a bit wary,” says Anabelle. “We hope they will breed but it’s asking a lot. It took a pair of Steller’s Sea Eagles down in Newent 17 years so we may have long wait.”

Still, the centre has its very first egg thanks to the amorous Griffon Vultures.

“It’s very exciting. It all is,” says Charlie. ”This is me fulfilling my greatest ambition but now it’s done I can’t stop thinking, ‘what if nobody comes?’”

They should. It is a wonderful place, built on a dream and fuelled by genuine insight and passion.

The new International Centre for 
Birds of Prey at Duncombe Park is set to open at Easter and will be open seven days a week with three flying demonstrations a day. www.icbp-duncombe.org