The old shearing shed

Headed away from the beach front on this morning's run. Along the road in the centre of the peninsula heading out towards the end. That was once one of my favourite runs; about 18k (there and back), and so beyond what I do these days. This is a shot of one of the farms still working in this area.

I haven't noticed many sheep around this or other farms, but clearly at one stage there was enough for a two stand shearing shed. The green door opens by sliding to the right and allows for the bales of wool to be brought onto the loading platform where a truck would have backed up. It may well be an old enough shed for it to have been built for use with a horse drawn wagon.

To the right of the loading platform are the two chutes out of which would have come the shorn sheep; hence my confident statement that it was a two stand shearing shed. There is just a small holding pen there.

On the other side of the building are the larger holding pens where the unshorn sheep would have been kept while waiting to be shorn. The left hand end of the building would be where the fleece would have been laid on a table, and graded and poor bits removed before being rolled and put into the hessian bags ready to be compressed. We boys would do that until the need for mechanical compression brought in the machinery.

I am guessing that the little lean-to at the right end housed the motor (diesel probably) which drove the power clippers when they were introduced. Although I doubt that there are many if any sheep shorn here now, the building remains in good repair and would seem to be being used for something.

I like this image because of the memories of farms (other than my father's dairy farm) on which I worked and visited. I also like that the east facing right end is being hit by the rising sun, and the mist which came up in the valley as the sun rose.