WHEN it comes to sheep-shearing a father and son team from Collaton on Dartmoor proved they are definitely a cut above most of the rest when they helped their team to fifth place in the Golden Shears World Shearing Championships.

George and Andrew Mudge were part of the England team who enjoyed a great run at the championships held a fortnight ago at the Royal Welsh Show near Builth Wells.

In the finals the pair sheared four sheep each, helping England to a top five finish behind the winners Lesotho, runners-up South Africa, third place New Zealand and fourth place Scotland.

It was a superb effort by the team as they beat off competition from other sheep rearing countries such as the host nation Wales, Australia and the United States of America.

There were 28 countries entered and the hand shearers had to undergo a number of rounds before the grand final in front of thousands of people.

George, aged 62 and a farmer and agricultural engineer, told the Times: 'Andrew and I only shear a few hundred sheep per year, so compared to the third place New Zealander, who sheared around 20,000, and the shearers from Lesotho and South Africa who do around 10,000 to 12,000, we didn't do badly!

'It was a tremendous atmosphere with about 5,000 people watching the event.'

George took part in the machine shearing competition in New Zealand in 1980 and has been using the traditional blade method since 1998. Two years ago, George, Andrew, and his daughter-in-law, Kelly, were half of the England team who were fourth in the world championships when they were held in Norway.

This year, George and Andrew, 30, earned a place in the England team by competing successfully in the national championships.

He said: 'I love it and shearing with my son just makes it all that more extra special.

We sheep shearers are competitive but we share great camaraderie.'

George is hoping to team up again with Andrew to compete in the next World Shearing Championships in 2012, due to be held in New Zealand.

No doubt his flock of around 100 Closewool sheep at his Collaton farm will be volunteering to put themselves forward to give George and Andrew some more practise!