Bill Broughton, beloved chairman of The Owls Trust Charity at Bodafon Park, died unexpectedly on Sunday 8th May 2022 at his home here in Llandudno. He was 81 years old.
Born Malcolm John Broughton in Leicestershire, his grandfather took one look at him and decided he preferred the name, Bill. That name stuck for the rest of Bill’s extraordinary life.
In the 1980s Bill and his wife chose to leave the blue-chip companies they worked for, the pop-up headlights and their executive lifestyle and bought a failing convenience store. Utter disaster! They totally forgot to charge any VAT for the first three months. But it was a significant learning curve. Over the following 11 years they won award after award, Nat West Small Business award, Independent Grocer of the Year, Booker Prize of Excellence and many more.
Time to move on. After spending 3 years on Anglesey creating an extraordinary collection of owls he was invited to come to Bodafon Farm Park with the kind permission of Mostyn Estates. Bill and his wife Pam started building aviaries together for their collection. A herculean task, three-metre larch poles aren’t the easiest to manoeuvre – but Bill never gave up. After 12 months they had built enough aviaries for their birds.
Then began the hard work of raising enough money to rescue all the wild, injured birds of prey brought to them and develop this wonderful collection of owls. Many of you may remember Bill’s years in the Victoria Centre in Llandudno, explaining the Trust and introducing you to the owls.
We posted the terribly sad news of Bill’s death on The Owls Trust Facebook page. So many comments were posted.
“He was such an amazing human being and thanks to him I was given the opportunity to do something I never thought I could”. “He was such a lovely man and always had time for a chat about the owls he cared for”. “Such a kind and caring man”. “A truly genuine person”.
Bill touched many hearts and simply made your day a better day with his compassion, laughter and charm.
His legacy is those very special memories that are with all the people he met and shared his life with and a wonderful charity here in Llandudno which is host to the most comprehensive collection of owls on display to the public in the UK.
He will be greatly missed by all, including the owls he knew so well.
Following his wishes, there will not be a service. But well-wishers are encouraged to just do one small thing tomorrow to make life a little better for our environment.
