Education

Students put reluctant sheep under the shears –

A flock of Blackface sheep from the high Angus hills became the reluctant models for a group of trainee sheep shearers near Edzell this week.

The 200 ewe hoggs from Dalbog Farm emerged from the shears of British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) students with a range of unconventional styles but farmer, Peter Myles, said he was tolerant of all the imperfections.

“They’re going back to the hills and they’ll be well away from the roadside so nobody is going to see them and the other sheep aren’t going to snigger behind their backs,” he said.

“The bonus is that I get 200 sheep shorn for free, and the youngsters are making quite a good job considering some of them have never touched a sheep before.”

The BWMB students were under the supervision of experienced tutor Neil Mutch who has taught shearing courses for 40 years. He said beginners spent the first day getting familiar with holding a sheep, and might only shear four or five animals in the course of the day.

“Safety and animal welfare paramount,” he said.

“A shearing machine can be a very dangerous bit of equipment in the wrong hands so you begin with two people on one machine, with one person ready to switch it off immediately if a problem arises.”

More than 280 students have enrolled on 52 Scottish shearing courses this year is and BWMB regional manager Colin MacGregor said many simply wanted to shear their own sheep.

“A survey showed 66% of students were just interested in working at home and 16% were looking to make it a career,” he said.

Local self-employed shepherd Morven Brown said she was doing the £200 two-day course in order to make herself more employable.

“I applied for a job in Perthshire and didn’t get it because another boy had shearing skills, so doing the course should improve my CV,” she said.

“It’s harder than it looks. It’s hard on the back and back of the legs, but it’s like learning a dance – once you know the moves it’ll be easier.”

Another student, Sharon Gaston from Tealing, wanted to learn the skill so that she could shear her four Valais Blacknose sheep.

“Even if it takes me a week and they don’t turn out very pretty, I want to do the job myself,” she said.

“As a smallholder it’s important that I take responsibility for shearing my own animals.”

Shearing instructor Neil Mutch has been teaching students for 40 years. His students at Dalbog Farm included Sharon Gaston, left, and Morven Brown.