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Shearing stories and the logistics of 5,500 sheep

September 10, 2024 September 2024 No Comments

Rebus Club’s guest speaker on 23 August was Roger Barton, the well-known Wairarapa farmer and stud sheep breeder, who talked about shearing and told a few stories about the Golden Shears, Masterton’s “ultimate shearing and wool handling event in the world.” 

The first competition was held during the A & P Show in Masterton in 1958, the result of a number of the Wairarapa Young Farmers’ Club members who had participated in similar competitions around the country. 

It was so successful that in 1961, with the assistance of Federated Farmers, the event was moved to the Masterton War Memorial Stadium where there was more room for the expected audience and the name Golden Shears was agreed. 

In March of that year nearly 300 shearers from NZ and Australia competed. Ivan Bowen, beating his brother Godfrey into second, became the first Golden Shears champion. It became an annual event of increasing importance in this new sport. 

David Fagan (now Sir David), who won the NZ Golden Shears 16 times, said that we needed a national event focussed on both the speed and efficiency of shearing and on the quality of the fleece.

With an eye on the 2026 event in Masterton, which this time will incorporate the Golden Shears World Shearing Championship, Roger emphasised the extent to which volunteers are involved in all

aspects of the event. 

He had volunteered to assist the 2024 event and had arranged, with support from Martinborough Transport, for 3,850 specially inspected and selected sheep to get from supplying farmers to the stadium and for their return to source after shearing. A total of 5,500 sheep will be needed in 2026! The need for equity between competitors imposes strict discipline in creating, for example, six equal mobs of 22 sheep for the open final.

The industry profits from sport shearing through better human body efficiency arising from improved shearing styles. The demise of the Wool Board in 2001 meant the loss not only of the shared genetic work on sheep, but also the facilities and personnel for training in shearing.

In 2004 The Wool Shed was devised to provide a home for the oral histories of past Golden Shears

champions and to provide a wool history focus in Masterton, emphasising Wairarapa’s significance in the NZ wool industry. 

Two woolsheds were donated and erected with volunteer labour in Dixon Street and the whole structure fashioned into a unique wool experience.

This introduction to the wool industry was preliminary to our visit to The Wool Shed on Wednesday

28 August for a guided tour and an opportunity to interact with spinners, weavers and other wool

crafters who meet there on Wednesdays.

South Wairarapa Rebus Club; https://southwairaraparebus.com  

Meets in the South Wairarapa Working Men’s Club, Greytown,  at 9:45 a.m. fourth Friday of each month. Anyone in the retired age group who may be interested in SW Rebus Club is welcome to attend a meeting as a visitor. Please introduce yourself at the door from the West Street carpark or contact John Reeve 021 560 461.

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