Building the sheep shearing sheds

 

Oops, still no sheds!

So the sheep started coming across the bridge in 1925, and they did have the new wool sheds that Charles built a few years earlier. But, they didn’t have any decent sized sheds to shear all these sheep in. Cue the next project: Let’s build a shed.

At least that was a relatively simple operation which could be done on dry land and near where they all lived. It must have seemed like a holiday after building the bridge, although the sheds were not completed until 1927.

 

"The Goose Green settlement grew after it became the base for the Falkland Islands Company's sheep farm in Lafonia in 1922 - the population rose to nearly 200, with improved sheep handling and wool shed being built. In 1927, the settlement's huge sheep shearing shed was built, which is claimed to be the world's largest, with a capacity of five thousand sheep. However, this claim is hard to verify.  In 1979, 100,598 sheep were shorn at Goose Green."
Wikipedia, Goose Green History (Editor's Note: Wikipedia being what it is, this text has since been replaced, but it did say this at the time of publishing this website).

At the time these sheds were built, they were certainly the largest sheep shearing sheds in the Falklands, with 34 shearing stands and I have been told that they were in fact the largest sheep shearing sheds in the world. Not surprisingly, I like to believe that proud claim. It may even still be true today, but I would not be surprised to hear of a farm in New Zealand, Australia or South America who reckon they now have a larger facility.

These sheds became world-famous during the Falklands conflict when the British soldiers held the Argentine PoWs in them.

According to Wikipedia:

 “...  Goose Green ... is still home to the largest shearing shed in the Falklands. The settlement was made famous by the 1982 Conflict, when 114 Falkland Islanders were held captive in the Community Hall by the invading Argentine force.  All captives were liberated by the Second Parachute Regiment on the 29th May 1982 in what was to become the first major land battle of the Conflict."
(Editor's Note: Same Wikipedia disclaimer as above).

Once the work on the bridge and the sheds was complete, Charles and his family returned to Stanley, while the community in Goose Green grew and thrived thanks to these new facilities.