In a first for the Highlands and the globe, Berrima bricky Sheree Canham will travel to the United States in January to compete in the world’s best bricklaying competition.
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The only woman ever to do so, Ms Canham will be up against 23 other contestants at the 2018 Spec Mix Bricklayer 500 World Championship in Las Vegas.
Having learnt her trade from her father, bricklayer Phil Harkness, who also took on her two brothers as apprentices, Ms Canham has been laying bricks for the past 14 years.
The championship will test her speed, skill and stamina, requiring her to lay as many bricks as possible within 60 minutes.
The 2017 winner, 35 year-old Matt Cash, laid 716 bricks in the hour.
“I’ve got a practice wall set up at home because it’s a bit different to bricklaying normal houses,” Ms Canham said.
“I’ve been watching YouTube videos to pick up ideas. You don’t have corners or windows or anything. But you have to be pretty neat – they can’t be [laid] too rough or you will have points deducted.
”I’m aiming to be able to lay 700 Australian bricks before I leave. American bricks are a bit smaller and lighter, so I’m hoping that will work in my favour.
“I laid 600 bricks in an hour in a trial run last week. A lot of brickies don’t lay that many in a day.”
For a woman working in a man’s world, Ms Canham has proved to be a force to be reckoned with.
She taught her husband and business partner, Greg Canham, who will be her labourer at the competition, everything he knows about the trade.
“I don’t think about it too much, I just concentrate on what I’m doing,” she said.
“You get the odd comment. The other week I went to work, and one guy said to me ‘I thought you were here to make the sandwiches’.”
“But I’d already done that. And then I had laid 1000 bricks by the end of the day.”
Ms Canham’s skills will be judged by 30 industry experts who will bestow the title of World’s Best Bricklayer onto the winner, who will also take home $100,000 worth of cash and prizes, including a Ford truck.