My friend, colleague and mentor Paul Boland, who has died aged 53 of cancer, was a dedicated manager for the National Trust in Wales for 33 years and a champion of the charity he loved. He was responsible for restoration and regeneration projects for the trust that have been enjoyed by thousands. His impact went well beyond the borders of Wales.
He was born and brought up in Cockett, Swansea, the son of Brian Boland, who worked on the railways, and Judith (nee Reynish). After leaving Bishop Gore school in Swansea he went to work at an outward-bound centre in Trap, near Llandeilo. In 1987 he was taken on by the National Trust in Wales to work in its training department, based in Llandeilo, doing conservation work. This included restoring the outer wall of the Vile – the footpath to Rhossili beach on the Gower peninsula.
In his third of a century at the trust, Paul did just about every job, from building stone walls to making the important acquisitions, as assistant National Trust director for South Wales, of Tredegar House in Monmouthshire and Dyffryn Gardens, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Paul’s greatest achievement was perhaps the restoration of the 18th- century manor at Llanerchaeron, in Ceredigion, of which he became manager in 1997. He worked with a small team to apply for the £4m grant that secured its future.
The project, which restored the house and developed the wider estate for public use, took about seven years to complete. When it was finished, Paul was also instrumental in bringing the Urdd Eisteddfod to Llanerchaeron in 2010.
He promoted a nature-first approach to land use. Another of his projects was the development of stunning sunflower fields at Rhossili, which now attract tens of thousands every summer and helped to make the peninsula a more relevant part of people’s lives in Swansea and Llanelli. His last position was as general manager for mid and south-east Wales.
Paul was always a man of passion and pride for his many loves – for his family, the National Trust, his home city of Swansea and the Ospreys rugby team, for fishing and cooking, and of course for Wales.
He is survived by his wife, Nikki (nee Williams), whom he married in 1989, his children, Ian and Catryn, grandchildren, Llion and Lleucu, and his parents.
