WITH close to two million clips to his belt, a western Queensland shearing legend will be inducted into the nation’s Shearers Hall of Fame later this month.
Longreach’s Ron “Tolly” Bowden, who turns 72 this month, is the only Queenslander among five inductees to be honoured during the Festival of the Blades at Easter in Hay, NSW.
Tolly started work as a rouseabout in Winton when he was 13. He has worked the shearing sheds of central westernQueensland, as a shearer and contractor, since he was 17.
“It’s a hard day’s work but you work with good blokes, meet a lot of nice people and it’s an honest living; worthwhile for young ones to consider even now if they’re willing to put their head down,” Tolly told The Senior.
His top count for an eight-hour clip using a narrow gauge was 326 sheep.
“Willpower is the main thing – and stamina,” he said. “Having a good shearer working alongside helps too.
“It’s like running: when you’ve got someone on your heels pushing you to go that bit harder, faster.”
But that superhuman effort isn’t all that’s been needed to see Tolly’s name added to the Hall of Fame. He was an initiator of the Diamond Shears competition in Longreach, which ran for 20 years from 1980.
“I wanted shearers to be proud of what they did. I wanted to put shearers and shearing on the map.”
While Tolly has weathered technological changes and the collapse of wool prices, it’s the drought that has really decimated western Queensland’s economy.
His business used to shear 350,000 sheep on average annually. This year, it will be about 80,000.
“I’m lucky to be able to pull two teams of 13 experienced shearers together. A lot have headed interstate to ensure work year-round.”
It’s a sad state of affairs, he acknowledges, but he’s confident the economy will again ride on the sheep’s back.
“This has been my life. Everything I have I got with my two hands out of the shearing industry, and I’ve always been proud to be called a shearer.”
Other inductees to the Shearers Hall of Fame this year are John Conlan (Victoria), Bob Cuttler and Peter Kelley (both deceased, Victoria) and Graeme Tyers (WA, deceased).
Pastoral college celebrates
Longreach Pastoral College celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Its doors opened on February 6, 1967, with an emphasis on training young people to work in sheep and wool production.
As college board member Rosemary Champion told the ABC: “At that time, a lot of people in the region built their wealth on the back of the sheep and wool boom. They had pride in and wanted to contribute to their
community, their industry, and regional Queensland in general.
“They flocked to us because it was the first and only college to particularly specialise in sheep and wool production in the semi-arid rangeland, broadacre, in the world”.
A 50-year reunion will be held in September for past students and staff.
- Register interest in attending online at lpc50.com.au