THE International Birds of Prey Centre at Newent is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and the tourist attraction recently held an open day for specially invited guests, to mark the occasion .

Among them was Newent town councillor, Colin Thomas, who said: "The collection, set in 12 acres of amazing grounds, clearly lives up to it’s reputation as a hidden gem and houses more than 250 birds of prey including eagle owls, vultures, kites, buzzards and falcons and hawks of all types.

"Visiting this centre is an experience in itself and when you see these beautiful birds you can see why it is called a hidden gem."

The founder, Jemima Parry-Jones set up the Centre in 1967, when it opened to the public, originally as the National Birds of Prey Centre.

At the time it was a specialised falconry centre containing birds of prey, and the original intention of the centre was to educate people about birds of prey and their value in the world.

Cllr Thomas said: "This has now been carried through very successfully to the present day. In recent years the Centre has extended itself and it has now been designated the International Birds of Prey Centre. It can now claim to be the worlds oldest, dedicated birds of prey centre in the UK.

"The open day guests were provided with an incredible display of flying exhibitions that have to be seen to be believed. These displays allow you to get up very close to these fascinating birds and coupled with a walk around the grounds to see the large and diverse range of raptors made this a very worthwhile visit."