by Angharad Evans, Welsh Language Communications Officer
For many farms across the country, the shearing season has arrived, and we are no different, and have done the thankless but essential task quite swiftly during one beautiful summer weekend.
From bringing the sheep in from all over the farm to packing the wool sacks, the task is laborious. But whilst the work is hard, it is very encouraging to see that young people are taking as much interest as ever and are eager to learn the craft.
This is true of Elis Ifan Jones, one of our members from Llanddeiniolen, Caernarfon. 17-year-old farmer’s son, Elis has been announced as the winner of the new British Wool Training and Development Programme. The programme was launched earlier this year which offers one winner from each UK nation the opportunity of winning 12 months of training as well as a Lister Shearing prize package worth £500.
Elis has a keen interest in keeping sheep with his family farming 2,000 sheep - with that in mind, Elis’s favourite time of year is always the shearing season. Cornel Clecs had a chance to talk to Elis and ask him what were the requirements of the competition and what his plans are for the future.