The Trust acquired the £1 million estate, which is home to “fragile” and threatened limestone grassland habitat, last year and offered it publicly for £1 per year to a new tenant, on the condition that they follow a strict conservation management programme. The offer attracted international interest from as far afield as New Zealand, and one US rancher even flew in to view the farm, camping on the Orme, but in the end  38 year old Dan Jones from Anglesey was selected to run the farm.

The farm sits on the Great Orme headland, Conwy with views of Anglesey and access to almost 300ha of grazing land, and  was being sold with plans to convert it into a golf course when it was purchased by the Trust in 2015. Home to rare butterflies and plants, the Trust said the farm hasn’t been grazed sustainably in many years, and will require “a nature-first approach which may go against the grain of some modern farming methods” when looking for tenants in May.

This will require moving sheep more often to graze the most productive pastureland less and the least productive areas more, according to its plans for nursing the countryside back to health.

Dan’s work will begin in September, when he will move to the estate with his wife Ceri and son Efan. He said, “This opportunity will change our lives.” The family first has to wind up its B&B business and sell off its current flock of sheep, as a new flock will be provided at Parc Farm by the charity plantlife.

This isn’t the first time Dan has beaten stiff competition to gain a coveted job for the National Trust. Two years ago he was appointed as a shepherd on the slopes of Snowdon, a job he still does part-time.

The announcement from the Trust follows calls made at the beginning of the month to end area-based subsidy payments after Britain withdraws from the EU and ensure that any replacement subsidy regime makes payments to farmers that are conditional on environmental performance and delivery of public goods.