July | 2019 | Sheep, Shoes and Food

After a phonecall during a drive home from Birmingham one evening, I hung up and thought back. Realisation kicked in…”yes I can take the afternoon off to help” were my words, but what had I committed to? I haven’t wrapped wool for well over ten years!

Shearing day has changed quite a bit since my younger days, and I haven’t really helped out in recent years because I work full time and I am not really needed as a rule. This almost felt like a treat!

A fair few things have changed about shearing day over 30 years, its hard to know where to start, so here are 8 things that have changed, since I was 8:

1. When I was 8 (1989) having the day off school for shearing day was perfectly acceptable, how things have changed…..

2. Staff. It was a big occasion and there used to be 2 or 3 shearing, 1 or 2 catching, a ‘pitch’ person, wool wrapper and general helper. There would also be Mam and Mamgu in the kitchen keeping the refreshments going from start to finish, and me helping by rolling in the wool sacks, playing with the dogs and having a go at learning to wrap the wool. It was an event then, whereas now it is getting a job done, before getting onto the silage before the weather changes again.

3. A major shift in culture is the addition of music, there was no Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga playing in the background 30 years ago, partly because they weren’t famous then, but there definitely wasnt a radio.

4. The food has changed, still an important part of the day though. We used to start with tea and cake, out to work, then all in for a roast dinner and pudding. Once the afternoon was underway some Cornish cream ice cream in cones would appear, and the day would finish with cake and a cuppa. Now meals are lighter, but thankfully we still get the homemade cakes from Mam.

5. As an industry we often hear how our costs have gone up but returns haven’t and wool is a prime example of this. Shearing day 1989 it cost 30p to shear each sheep, now it is about £1 a sheep. The wool is worth approxinately 95p/kg now but in 1989 it was reported at 96/kg. So wool isn’t worth anymore now than in 1989 and the shearing costs are higher. Somebody told me that they had £1.18p/kg in 1984, so prices had dropped before 89.

6. Numbers have changed, in 1989 we shore 335 at home and this year we were just under 150. We have bigger ewes now but this really is a sign of the times with many farms reducing stock numbers.

7. The breed of sheep we keep has changed, in 1989 we kept a Beulah Speckled face ewe, we now keep Lleyn ewes. The Lleyn is a maternal breed which basically means she is a good mother, producing good milk for her lambs and is more prolific so more likely to have twins. We still keep a Welsh ewe on the hill, but that is another shearing day.

Speckled face (above and Lleyn (below)

8. As it is a #shoes blog, its important to note that footwear has changed, the shearers wear special shoes called moccasins. These are alot less slippery than wearing boots or trainers, as the lanolin from the fleeces can make the surface they work on very greasy.

Something that hasn’t changed is the weather. In 7th June 1989, Dad has written in his diary “rained all day”this year June was so wet it was 19th June we shore the ewes at home.

The farming community is a strong community, and although the day has changed, it is still a day where people cone to the farm,you see friends and have a chance to catch up with the local news.

So much talk and press articles about the impact sheep have or don’t have on the environment, and something that is overlooked is wool. Its a natural product, its good to keep you warm and you can make it last for years, that to me is so much better for the environment than buying the cheaper synthetic materials as we do.

I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon off work to help wrap wool. I was a little nervous because the shearers are really good and I am rusty to say the least. I didn’t however, do too badly. We had 3 shearing and Mam helped with the wool wrapping while Dad filled the boxes. Mr Pugh taught me to wrap a fleece 30 years ago, and it did come back, albeit a bit slowly! It would seem that I remember skills I learnt as a youngster better than the ones I learn now 🙈. Hopefully I did a good enough job to be invited back again next year!

It wasn’t just me who enjoyed the day, smiles all round, the dogs (Belle and Taff) love it too 😀