FOLLOWING an international search by the National Trust for a conservation farming hero to take on a £1m farm for a pound a year, the successful shepherd has been named.

Dan Jones, 38, from Anglesey, will pick up the keys to the iconic Parc Farm on the Great Orme/ Pen y Gogarth, Llandudno, in September.

His job will involve taking a nature-first approach to farming the Great Orme, to restore the landscape and allow the globally rare habitats and species to flourish.

“I couldn’t quite believe it when I got the call to say I was successful. I was in shock,” said Dan.

“My wife Ceri, son Efan and I are just super excited. This opportunity will change our lives. Y Parc is a dream farm, it is such a beautiful location, the views are amazing, and I’m really looking forward to farming in a different way to make a difference for nature.

“With the tenancy at just a pound, it allows us to be able to farm far less intensively, focus on improving the habitats, share more of what we’ll be doing with visitors and still produce great food.”

William Greenwood, National Trust general manager, said: “This opportunity sparked international interest, and we were taking calls from potential applicants at the rate of over 100 an hour for days. Whittling them down to the very best was an exhaustive task, but Dan and his wife Ceri absolutely stood out from the crowd.”

The announcement of the unique £1 tenancy in May followed on from the publication of the conservation charity’s new ten year vision, aimed at reversing the alarming decline in wildlife – 60 per cent in the past 50 years – and finding long term solutions to help nurse the countryside back to health.

Nowhere is this need more pressing than on the Great Orme which is home to many internationally rare habitats and species; some of which exist nowhere else on earth.

This is not the first time Dan who farms 1,000 sheep on almost 400 acres in Anglesey has won out against stiff opposition in a landmark National Trust search. Two years ago Dan beat off all opposition to take on the role of support shepherd on the slopes of Snowdon for the National Trust.

“Working with the flock at Hafod Y Llan on Snowdon has been a fantastic experience,” he said, “but more than that it has been incredible to see the real physical difference dedicated conservation shepherding can have.

“Noticing the differences you can make for nature, by working this way is fantastically rewarding, and I’m so looking forwarding to being able to see the same changes on the Orme.”

The National Trust took action to buy the 145 acre Parc Farm, and grazing rights over an additional 720 acres of the Great Orme in May last year not only because some of its key habitats and species were deemed at threat, but because it was being sold with the potential to develop its fragile limestone grasslands into a golf course.

Dan, Ceri, their son Efan, eight, and their five working dogs will move in to Parc Farm on October 1.

Dan said: “We need to move out of our current house, bring our B&B business to a close, sell 1,000 sheep, wind up three tenancies we hold on Anglesey, and get Efan signed up for his new school – it’s pretty full on!”