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It was one owl in particular that gave her the inspiration to open the owl centre, almost 20 years ago.

“As I grew up, I got into Barn owls; they’re the most beautiful creatures. I have a barn owl called ‘Misty’; he’s coming up 21 years old. He’s still at the centre and it’s him that inspires me, it’s him that opened the centre and him that keeps me going.�

One of the aims of the Owl Centre is to encourage other people to love wildlife and Jill regularly gets calls from the public about animals that need rescuing.

“We had another little tawny owl brought in a couple of days ago, it’s only a little ball of fluff, but we’re feeding it in an enclosed aviary so it’s not humanised. You put their food through a little hole so they can’t see humans and as soon as it can fly all the way around the aviary and feed itself, then it goes back to the wild.�

Jill’s aim is always to release the animals back into the wild wherever possible. But she has taken in quite a range of animals over the years. ‘Treacle’ the Shetland pony now lives at the centre and earns his keep giving pony rides to children, but Jill bought him at a car boot sale on the toss of a coin.
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“Five years ago I went to a boot sale to buy wood for ongoing repairs at the centre, I went with £200 to buy wood and I came back with 3 ponies, no wood, just ponies!�

The future of the owl centre at the moment is much brighter than last year. It faced closure due to rising insurance costs, but a massive fund-raising effort from local papers and some anonymous donors raised £10,000 and has kept the centre open.

“The owl centre is privately owned and I can only keep going as long as I’ve got supporters. And I’ve got some cracking supporters. There are people who made anonymous donations last year. And if you see this, we all know who you are and I’m so extremely grateful.�

“It’s hard work, but so rewarding. If I had to choose between the human and animal race, I’m sorry but I’d be behind the animals all the way.�