Shearers and fans of the sport flocked to Lochearnhead for the annual Scottish Blackface Shearing Championships where Calum Shaw, from Fife, won his first open Lochearnhead title.
Lochearnhead Shears attracts many of the top shearers from across the country, and this year included special visits from Welsh and New Zealand competitors.
Adding to his first Royal Highland Show open win was Calum Shaw, who raced for the fastest time with fellow Scotsman Hamish Mitchell, and finished only a second apart. With better scores on the board, for technique, and in the pen, for the number of nicks and cuts on the sheep, Calum won the red sash with a combined score of 56.800.
New Zealand’s Rowland Smith, a double winner of the Golden Shears title, was second with 58.200, followed by England’s Adam Berry in third with 59.850 and Hamish in fourth with 60.450.
The New Zealand versus Scotland test match always gets the spectators going and this year it gave the home crowd plenty to celebrate when Calum and Hamish edged the lead with 107.960 compared to New Zealand’s Rowland Smith and Johnny Kirkpatrick who picked up 108.995 points.
Despite a strong show from the three Scots in the blade (hand shearing) final, it was a Welshman that secured first place in both time and points. Rheinally Hughes picked up a total of 73.700, while Willie Craig came in second with 75.050, Mark Armstrong was third with 82.200, and Wilson Wylie was fourth with 82.200.
The Scots were back on top form when Willie and Wilson won the Scotland versus Wales blade test against Rheinallt Hughes and Elfed Jackson. Scotland finished with a score of 155.500 against Wales’ 159.550.
Another strong test match was the Scotland versus Republic of Ireland junior development test, which aims to promote, encourage and develop young shearers. It was Padraig Coen and Aaron Magee from Ireland who won this leg with a combined total of 63.100, compared to 80.250 from Scotland’s Billy Gray and Stuart Robson.
Among the seniors it was New Zealand’s lady shearer, Catherine Mullooly, who claimed the top spot with 80.300, followed by Stewart Kennedy with 86.300, Jack Douglas with 93.900, and Sandy McKellar on 98.650.
Young Joe Boylan not only won the intermediate section with a score of 45.450, but also the coveted Colin MacGregor Salver and a Heiniger handpiece for having the best pen score in any final. Joe placed ahead of Emily Te Kapa on 53.950, Robert McKellar on 61.150, and Ciaran McNulty on 71.650.
Padraig Coen was in top form and added a first in the junior section to his team win in the junior development test. He finished up with the same score as second placed Stuart Robson, but a better pen mark edged the lead. In third on 43.000 was Aaron Magee while Billy Gray was fourth with 48.950.
Another to continue her winning form from the Highland Show was Leanne Bertram who won first place in the wool handling competition with 46.200, while Rosie Keenan finished in second place with 47.300.
Robert McKellar added to the celebrations as he was deemed best local on the day, while the best of the novice blade competitors was Rowan Forrest.