Magic Lantern Slide: Sheep Shearing Contest, 1st Prize Winner -- Mr Ayers' Farm, Black Dog

This magic lantern slide shows the 1st prize winner of a sheep shearing contest that took place on 20th June 1938. The winner was Mr Ayers’ Farm, Black Dog, Devon.

This is one of two images showing these farmers at work in the mid-Devon village of Black Dog. Even though it was taken at a time of social change before the Second World War, it shows a scene familiar to modern farmers.

William Weaver Baker was a keen local amateur photographer and his collection of lantern slides offer a rare glimpse of Exeter and the surrounding area in the early twentieth century.