The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Shearers find ewes in no mood for haircut
SHEEP SHEARERS from around the world descended on a Scottish village and gave 1,134 Blackface ewe hoggs their annual haircut during the weekend, writes Joewatson.
The Lochearn head Shears and Scottish Blackface Shearing championships attracted more than 100 competitors.
It was a smaller-thanusual entry as the contest — one of the main events on the Scottish shearing calendar — clashed with two competitions in Ireland, one in the south and another in the north.
The first dry weather for a week also conspired against organisers as several shearers decided to take advantage of the conditions and go and work.
The traditional large entry from Australia and New Zealand was also missing because of the strength of their home currencies against sterling.
However, the battle on the stage in the giant marquee at Lochearnhead was no less intense.
All the finals were staged on Sunday night and the highlight was the annual test match between Scotland and New Zealand.
It was given a rousing start with a rendering of the Flower of Scotland on the bagpipes.
Scotland’s Hamish Mitchell, originally from Lochearnhead but who now farms on Norway’s west coast, and Calum Shaw, of Dunfermline, faced Johnny Kirkpatrick and Nathan Stratford from the visitors.
It was a display that delighted the noisy crowd as the shearing masters showed their prowess with the clippers, managing to remove the fleece from each of their 15 sheep in under a minute, with the fastest display by Mr Kirkpatrick on 11 minutes and 18 seconds, followed 10 seconds later by Mr Shaw.
The hoggs were unwilling clients, kicking out and wriggling, but the shearers showed a steely determination to complete their task at mind-blowing speed.
The teams were competing for a new trophy donated in memory of legendary New Zealand shearer Joe Te Kapa, who died last year aged 77.
Scotland were the winning team on 88.43 points and received the trophy, which featured the last clipping handset used by Mr Te Kapa .
In the blades competition, featuring the traditional hand shears, it was Jimmy Wright, a shepherd at Doune, who completed the five hoggs first in 15 minutes and 21 seconds to give him a section-leading 56.9 points.
In the junior finals, it was Fulton Ronald (22), of Keilator, Crianlarich, who was the first to finish his five sheep in a speedy six minutes and 27 seconds.
But the winner of the section was Lewis Harkness, of Dumfries, who, although slower in finishing at nine minutes and 15 seconds, did a better job clipping and scored 31.6, against the 32.9 scored by Fulton.
Fulton shears at home at Keilator, where there are 1,600 Blackface ewes.
The open final saw 17 sheep clipped in 11 minutes and 49 seconds by Garve’s Simon Bedwell. But the winner was Mr Kirkpatrick, with a final score of 45.17, against Mr Bedwell’s 46.33. Results: Hand shearing — 1 Elfed Jackson, Wales, 54.41; 2 Willie Craig, Scotland, 57.4; 3 Rheinalt Hughes, Wales, 65.1.
Wool handling — 1 Stacey Mundell, Fintray, Glasgow, 26; 2 Leanne Bertram, Lockerbie, 26.46; 3 Kirsty Donald, Fettercairn, 27.86.
Scotland-Ireland junior test — 1 Fulton Ronald, Crianlarich, 26.17; 2 Dennis O’ Sullivan, Ireland, 22.53; 3 Lewis Harkness, 27. Ireland won on 48.8, with Scotland on 53.17.
Scotland-New Zealand test — 1 Calum Shaw, Scotland, 44.13; 2 Johnny Kirkpatrick, New Zealand, 42.63; 3 Hamish Mitchell, Scotland, 44.3. Scotland won on 88.43 with New Zealand on 89.98.
Hand shearing — 1 Jimmy Wright, 56.9; 2 Gordon Stewart, 62.13; 3 Willie Shaw, 62.5.
International relay — 1 Scotland (Grant Mundie, Dundee; Simon Bedwell, Garve; and Tom Wilson, Borders but now living in New Zealand), 39.1; 2 New Zealand, 42.68; 3 Southern Counties, 44.17.
Junior — 1 Lewis Harkness, Dumfries, 31.6; 2 David Keane, Co Mayo, 33.5; 3 Fulton Ronald, 32.9.
Intermediate — 1 Scott Wilson, Broughton, Biggar, 29.72; 2 David Gordon, New Zealand, 31.03; Stuart Davidson, Blythbridge, 34.65.
Senior — 1 Jack Fagan, New Zealand, 41.65; 2 Brian Simpson, Blairgowrie, 41.85; Stewart Kennedy, Aberfeldy, 42.65.
Open — 1 Johnny Kirkpatrick, 45.17; 2 Simon Bedwell, 46.33; 3 Calum Shaw, Dumfermline, 47.79.