Heacham author to donate proceeds from wildlife book

An author from Heacham has written a biography called 'Wise Owl and Barn Owl' and would like suggestions for a privately-run animal hospital to donate the royalties to.

Before moving to Heacham, Angela Canning worked as a secretary for the Hampshire Fire Service in her home town of Winchester, and married Arthur, a senior fire officer.

When they relocated to Newbury, Berkshire, the couple became friends with Louise and Yvonne Veness, who taught them how to run their wildlife hospital whilst they went on holiday.

Louise asked Angela if one day she would write their life-story and now that the book has been published by Olympia , Angela intends to donate all royalties to a wildlife hospital. She would like to find a privately-run wildlife hospital to receive financial support.

Wise Owl and Barn Owl is the biography of Louise and Yvonne Veness who, after finding an injured pigeon in London, first began to care for wild creatures. Upon their move to Berkshire, they started up their own Newbury wildlife hospital, knowing of no other in the country.

Deers, badgers, stoats, a polecat, squirrels, bats, an oiled heron and every variety of bird were brought to them from as far away as the Clyde and they were on call day and night for 33 years. Their experiences ranged from rescuing fox-cubs born in a tombstone to separating two male swans involved in combat.

Louise, formerley Louis, and Yvonne pioneered against cruelty to wild creatures for over thirty years, appearing on television several times in programmes such as TV's "Country Ways" and "Magpie", and in numerous illustrated articles for the national press.

They have won a Radio 2 award and appeared in programmes such as BBC’s “Country Ways” and ITV’s “Magpie”, as well as in illustrated articles for the national press. The book is named after the code names they used when talking to each other over their radios.