Sir David Fagan shears champion woolhandler's hair for charity

Former England World Championships woolhandling representative Natalie Crisp gets her ponytail removed by shearing legend Sir David Fagan during a charity event in Te Kuiti. Photo / SSNZ

Sir David Fagan took to the handpiece again for a rather different kind of event – shearing a ponytail for export.

The shearing legend used a crank-powered handpiece to shave the head of local and former England World Championships woolhandling representative Natalie Crisp.

The unusual moment was part of the entertainment during the North Island Speed Shear Shearing Championship in Fagan's hometown of Te Kuiti on Friday January 8.

Fagan retired from competitive shearing in 2015 with 642 open-class wins and multiple World, Golden Shears and New Zealand titles behind him.

He said he surprised even himself with the clean job on the head-shave, as the quality of most haircuts done with shearing handpieces usually required finishing touches from a barber or hairdresser.

Crisp sat like a lamb as Fagan completed the job - almost.

A tassel left behind at the end could have meant the red-light of disqualification, had it been part of the actual speed shear, but Fagan removed the final piece of outstanding growth soon afterwards.

Natalie Crisp gets her head shaved Sir David Fagan. Photo / SSNZ

Crisp first came to New Zealand to shear about 17 years ago and has now been living in the country for about eight years with partner Nik Bryant.

Nowadays Crisp enters the woolsheds only rarely, as her fulltime job is with Waitomo Honey. Her boss Alice Woolston was even roped-in on the action.

Woolston had two roles, as a firefighter collecting at the door for the Te Kuiti Volunteer Fire Brigade, and as the grinder cranking the power for the head-shaving.

The event took place in front of a crowd of up to 200 at the Waitete Rugby Club, the club of late rugby great Sir Colin Meads.

All cleaned-up, from left shearing crank grinder Alice Woolston, shearing legend Sir David Fagan and shaven Natalie Crisp. Photo / SSNZ

Crisp's hair is now headed for the Little Princess Trust in the UK, which provides human hair wigs for child cancer sufferers who have lost their hair.

Cash donations on the night, and from a Givealittle page, are destined for Breast Cancer Foundation NZ.

Two speed shear competitor singlets were also auctioned on the night, one raising $300 which went into the breast cancer collection, and the other $150 which went to the fire brigade.

It was the latest of several fundraising shearing events in recent times, including two back-to-back eight-hour "days" in a 7am-5am effort by Hawke's Bay shearer Ariki Hawkins, in support of a shearing mate who was injured in a quadbike rollover on a Southland farm, and a 24 hour "Shearathon" by Taihape shearers Brad Anderson and Sam Mallalieu, in support of Ronald McDonald House.