A FAMILY is risking it all to follow their dream to see an owl centre take flight in Furness.

Steve and Lynne Jones and their son, Danny, from Ulverston, are raiding their savings, selling their bungalow, and moving into a caravan to make good their vision to run a tourist attraction in praise of the wide-eyed beauty of owls.

"We are risking everything and it is very, very scary," said Mrs Jones. "But it's something Steve's wanted for a long time and there comes a point where you just have to say let's get on with it'."

The owl-mad family, who keep 40 of the birds in their back garden, have invested in a five-acre site on the outskirts of Barrow, at Sowerby Woods.

With a lot of grafting, they hope to transform the reclaimed industrial land into a home for 100 owls complete with an educational visitor centre, bird display area and children's playground. Among the residents will be Snowy owls, African Spotted owls and the biggest of them all the Eagle Owl. There will also be a breeding programme for endangered species and a corner of the centre devoted to rare breed farm animals.

Planning permission was secured in April and work has just begun to clear the dense gorse and brambles that have taken over the land that was once used as a tip and an access road for the old British Cellophane factory.

Mr Jones has given up his job as a project engineer for BNFL to manage the project and nine people have been hired to do the building work. His son has also been putting his back into the first painful job, digging 200 fence post holes in the rubble-filled ground a job that is far from a hoot.

"We've done 100 so far. I'm pretty sore my back's starting to ache!" said 27-year-old Mr Jones.

His dad added: "If we realised how hard it was going to be, we would have had second thoughts and gone for opening a B&B instead but I still think when we've done it, it's going to be amazing a real dream come true."

The lifelong bird enthusiast developed an interest in owls 12 years ago when a falconer suggested he tried them as an easier alternative to keeping birds of prey. He was instantly hooked and has been breeding owls ever since working with conservation and owl husbandry groups, including English Nature, the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and The World Owl Trust.

"They are such beautiful birds and so fascinating; each owl has its own character and reacts to different things."

It is a passion he now hopes will earn the family a living, create at least 25 jobs and give Furness a tourist attraction he believes will pull in some 35,000 to 50,000 visitors every year.

Harry Potter is helping with a bit of advanced marketing thanks to the central role of his pet owl, Hedwig, in the multi-million pound film and book franchise. The couples website www.furnessowls.co.uk went berserk when the latest episode in the Potter franchise hit the cinemas so they hope some of that enthusiasm will translate into visitors.

"The centre is going to be magnificent when it is complete," he enthused. "It's going to be one of the biggest dedicated owl centres in the UK. It is just what this area needs. Barrow has lost a lot of industry and it's trying to market itself as a tourism destination so it needs places for people to come and visit."

If work goes to plan, Furness Owls should open its doors and aviaries in April 2006.