Restored shearing stand given run

Farmers and former shearers (from left) Gordon Duthie, Steve Martin, Graeme Hogg, John Benington, Earnie McCaw, Barry Guthrie and Owen Perkins check out a recently rebuilt shearing stand on show at the Tuapeka Vintage Club and Museum's Heritage Day in Lawrence yesterday. Photo: Yvonne O'Hara

Gordon Duthie spent every Sunday from March through to August rebuilding a shearing shed stand, which he rescued from an old woolshed on the Crawford family's Craigellachie property, near Lawrence.

He said the shed,  built  before World War 2, was to be demolished by the property's buyers, Contact Energy, in 2012, so Mr Duthie dismantled the stand and stored it at the Tuapeka Vintage Club and Museum's premises in Lawrence. It remained there until Mr Duthie and other club members began rebuilding it in March this year, spending every Sunday working on it.

They completed the restoration in August, added authentic and original equipment and it had its first unveiling during the club's Heritage Day in Lawrence  yesterday.

Several sheep were shorn on the stand on the day.

The shearing stand sits on a set of wheels for ease of moving.

"We are bringing the shed to the sheep," Mr Duthie said.

Visitors could also walk through the club's new shed extension, which was built to house its constantly expanding number of exhibits.

As the town was attracting more and more visitors, including increasing numbers of those riding the cycle trail, Mr Duthie said he wanted to show them how important farming, sheep and shearing was to the region's economy.

"I don't think anybody has really done something like this before," he said.

"The shearing industry was a big thing to Lawrence."

The display also includes old shearers' handpieces, sacking moccasins, one of the original tally books, an old toolbox and tools, an old radio and the original templates the Crawfords used for their wool.

Mr Duthie said the stand was almost finished and he intended to add further examples of the equipment used and photographs of the Crawford family to the display.

The vintage club also had a sugar beet chopping machine in operation, as well as a grain grinder, gold-panning demonstrations, weaving and spinning demonstrations and model boats on the neighbouring pond. Even the ducks got involved, parading about a dozen ducklings.

- Yvonne O'Hara