A father and son have proved they are still at the cutting edge of their craft at the world shearing championships.

George and son Andrew Mudge of Collaton, near Tavistock, have returned from Masterton in New Zealand after competing in the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing & Wool Handling Championships.

This is the premier global event for shearing and wool handling, featuring machine shearing and blade shearing and includes individual, where the two compete against each other, and team competitions.

The pair duly showed they are a cut above the flock by representing England in the team event, demonstrating speed, skill and physical fitness in a thrilling spectacle for the audience.

The two, who run a beef and sheep holding at Meadowside Farm, scooped top ten places against the world’s elite shearing nations South Africa, New Zealand and Australia who shear thousands of sheep a year, which dwarfs anything achieved in the UK.

Andrew and George finished in fourth place in the worlds team final.

George, who was in his sixth world championships with Andrew, said: “I’m very proud of Andrew’s achievements and of us both really.

Andrew and I are the only blade shearers from England to reach multiple world shearing individual blade finals.

“It’s a very high pressure environment which is judged on skills, rather than numbers of animals sheared. It’s about quality and time. So, it’s high intensity competition under the eyes of the judges and other competitors under the spotlight up on that stage. There’s no place to hide.

“Everybody has to qualify to represent their respective countries through competitions across each country and there’s no better feeling than to be the top two in our country and be asked to represent at international level.

Andrew and I also make a good team, because we support each other and there’s natural healthy competition between us. I want to prove I can still hack it at my age and Andrew wants to show his dad he can beat me.”

George said the world final achievement was all the more impressive because sheep shearing is not anywhere as big in the UK as in the southern hemisphere: “I ask the South Africans how many sheep they shear a year and they said an average of about 25,000 a year each with blades.

Andrew and I will shear a maximum of 1,000 each a year, so it’s not surprising they and New Zealand and Australia dominate the competitions.”

Andrew said: “It was such stiff competition against the very best in the world who do it for a living. I’m very pleased that we did so well. They were long intense three days of competition with early starts and late finishes. It was a great honour and privilege to wear the England shirts on the world stage. We did our country proud.”

The pair came fourth in the world teams with winners New Zealand, second South Africa and third Australia. Andrew came fifth in the open ‘golden shears’ blades competition and sixth in the world individual final open, while George came tenth in the world.