Caller of the Night: Shearing sheep in Great Barrier Island

Winnie joined Roman to share her stories of sheep-shearing in Great Barrier Island from her 90-years of life - from seeing the wool shipped off to Auckland, her husband's cousin winning the Golden Shears in 1974 (Norman Blackwell), to her son and grandchild inheriting the skill.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hi Winnie, I good evening.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Now. I just wondered if you times meet for a
few moments to tell you about life sharing on Greape
Barrier Island ninety years ago.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well please do.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I've lived for ninety years on Grape Barrier Island and
nowhere else. And he's the brothers from the Midland Valley.
And they sure their sheep by the blades, and as
a little bit my shared with the mornings and afternoon
teath and the noise my ears of those five bits

(01:01):
of she is cutting the cheap solutely amazing, cutting the wool.
And prior to versus wasn't my day. But prior to that,
when they show the wall, they bailed it and then
they took us by bullock, the co speak of medlands.
And then they put it a little boat and rowed
it out and choose the bay where the big boat

(01:25):
was waiting, and took their wall to Auckland that way.
In later years, godfree crown to the island and he
did a course for the boys that wanted to share,
and his brother came with him Ivan and now cheering

(01:47):
Shed and I can remember that quite vividly. My husband's cousin,
Norman Blackwell. I haven't heard you mention in nineteen seventy
four he won the Golden Cheers.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Good Lord, and was it Norman Blackwell? That's right, I'm
just writing it down. It's good to know.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
And my husband's cousin.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
And where was he? Where did he live at the
time he won the.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Golden Initially he grew up on Great Berry Island. And look,
I'm not quite sure on that one, but my son
went to Worthington and learned to do his sharing from him,
and he's still sharing here today. Was his son, my

(02:36):
grandson on Great Barrier.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
That's great. Now going back, when you go back to
that story about the wall going from the small boat
out to the ship, that's what used to happen before
there were good roads in the waded Upper. They'd row
it out and these funny little boats to a big
ship and sometimes, of course of freak wave would come
along and they'd lose the bail. Did that happen for
you as well? Do you remember that?

Speaker 3 (02:57):
I speak before my time, but I guess that could
happen but the boat couldn't. The big boat couldn't get
around onto this coast because it's pretty rudy here. This
is how easily storm coming in. Yeah, anyway, that was
just a little bit I thought you might be interested in.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
I love that Norman Blackwell that will ring bells for
the Golden Shares people. They'll know that.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
He definitely did it once and he was a runner up.
I think called something the second time. I'm not quite
sure about that.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's a lovely story and other people will know the name.
If you know sharing, you know names, you know the Cassides,
the Blade Sharers. I don't, but that's one name that's
been mentioned tonight. The Fagans, of course, not the musicians,
the sharers Paddy Matthias from Arthur's Point near Queenstown, sharers
that did something else in the off season. The share

(03:52):
is that shore year round. I don't know how you
could do that. I don't know how you could physically
do that. Sharing in another country, then coming back to
share here, Sharing sharing everywhere incredible

Speaker 1 (04:05):
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