Welsh shearer attempts British Shearing Record

A 27-year-old Welsh shearer will attempt a shearing record in July. Huw Jones from Abergynolwyn in Mid Wales will attempt the 8-Hour Solo Ewe British Record.

 For approximately 6 months of the year, Huw’s normal shearing routine would be spent between here in the UK and New Zealand. The rest of the year would be farming on the family farm, along with some contract sheep dipping alongside his brother.

Huw said:

“As far back as I can remember, farming has always been my main passion. I would always be outside farming with my parents, and when staying with my grandparents. Luckily for us, Mum and Dad have always included me and my brother in a lot of farming decisions from a young age (sometimes too young), but it helped us learn how important it is to consider all aspects before making a decision.”

Shearing normally starts for Huw at the end of April in England before coming back home to Wales to shear from the end of May. Huw shears with his friend Gwydion and they’ve shorn together for several years on local farms, starting with the rams and yearlings and then on to the ewes and mountain flocks. The aim is always to finish shearing at the Royal Welsh Show so he can enjoy the show!

In terms of personal achievements, graduating as an Agricultural Engineer from Harper Adams University would be one of them. Huw says:

“Although I don’t fully use my degree now, it was important to me, even though I loved shearing and farming, that I always had something I could fall back on, education and learning are never a waste and always a good thing.

Another personal achievement was winning the Louise Owen Memorial Shearing Scholarship, which allowed me to travel to New Zealand to shear for Brendan Mahony in Napier. I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity, and I still go shearing for Brendan every year.”

In recent years, many shearing records have taken place, and Huw comments:

“Seeing Matt Smith, Rowland Smith, Gareth Daniel, and Ian Jones achieve their records, planted a thought in my mind that I would like to do something like that one day, but realised I was years away from it! After waiting patiently, I finally achieved a long-term goal 2 years ago in New Zealand, shearing 554 lambs in 8 hours. But I still wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to do 600, so when I got home, I asked my brother if I could try and do a personal best on his sheep. Thankfully, he agreed, and then on the 12th of July 2023, I shorn 704 ewes in 9 hours. That was the big motivation to attempt a record. I set my goal for about 2 years and chose the record I wanted to attempt to break!”

Finally, as the day of Huw’s attempt draws closer, he concluded:

“I have a few proud moments in shearing, and winning the Senior Championship in Corwen Shears was a personal highlight. There are many shearers and people outside of shearing who have inspired me in different ways, but for me, Rowland Smith has always been a big inspiration. Not only is he an outstanding shearer in shows/records and in the shed, but he also has an incredible work ethic. I could never manage lamb shearing until I watched Rowly shear lambs in front of me; that is when I finally stopped making excuses of being too tall for lambs and found a way to get it done.”