Gwion Evans - A summer of competing:

Sheep farmer, shearer, and British Wool Ambassador Gwion Evans farms with his father and brother on a traditional hill farm in Bylchau, North Wales. They run a beef and sheep system with a herd of continental crosses mainly British Blue Cross dairy cows and rear 50 calves on an automatic feeding system. The sheep are split between 1,000 crossbred ewes and 400 pure Welsh Mountain ewes.

Gwion is married with three children and as well as being busy on the farm, Gwion does some shearing contracting in his local area of North Wales. 

Shearing runs in the family with his father a shearer, both Gwion and Gareth have enjoyed several successes in shearing over the years. For Gwion, this reached the highest accolade of all last year becoming the Individual Machine Shearing World Champion.

We catch up with Gwion after a busy summer of competing:

How long have you been shearing competitively?

I have been shearing competitively for 21 years and my first competition was at the age of 14 at the Royal Welsh Show. After this, I caught the bug and competed at many local shows and competitions reaching the open shearing level at the age of 19 years old.

I shorn my first ever sheep at home at 12 years of age. My dad taught me who was always keen on shearing, and I attended British Wool shearing courses. 

How do you prepare for the competitive shearing season and the shows you attend?

I try and shear as many sheep as I can before the show season. As we have sheep at home, and I have a shearing run I have plenty of opportunity to get some practice in. You must be fit to shear sheep, but farming and shearing is hard work so work keeps me fit!

How many shows have you completed in this year?

I have competed in 15 shows across the UK this year. I compete in the Welsh Shearing Circuit which is 10 nominated shows located across the UK and you must compete in at least 7 of the 10 shows. The competition and rivalry at these shows are very strong but we are all great friends and always enjoy a pint at the end of a busy show!

What is your favourite show?

The Royal Welsh and Corwen Shears, I can’t separate as both are up there with being the best shows in the world. Both have a fantastic atmosphere and all the main shearers on the circuit including from countries like New Zealand would compete at both. The Wales vs NZ tests are fascinating and passionate occasions, you even get to see the New Zealand Haka.

How has the season gone for you?

The season this year has been a bit up and down but improved as it went on. Next season will be an important season competitively as this will be the qualification season for the team to represent Wales at the 2026 World Shearing Championships.

What has been your highlight to date on the competitive stage?

Without a doubt, it was winning the Machine Shearing World Championship last year. A dream come true - I’ve worked hard to get where I am in Shearing but it’s the enjoyment I get that keeps me motivated and going every year. The atmosphere during the final was amazing and it was great that so many of my family, friends, and shearers had travelled up to Scotland to support me and the Welsh team.

Do you have any advice for the next generation of shearers?

My advice would be to work hard and travel as much as you can, you can learn so much by shearing in countries like New Zealand. Attending courses is always a good way to learn, I attended British Wool courses that were great - my brother Gareth is now an instructor on the British Wool courses.