“This is the place I want to be and, believe me, I’ve had a good look around,” he said.

“It’s the prettiest place I have seen in Australia — it is just magic.”

Mr Beaver, 74, said that from the moment he first laid eyes on the town, he knew he was on to a good thing.

The well-known retired shearer, who has shorn sheep in just about every shed in the area and many beyond, arrived in Australia in 1954, on the eve of his 17th birthday.

He left his home in Leicester, England, and came to Australia under the Big Brother immigration scheme.

Mr Beaver didn’t know what he was in for but after a few weeks working on a farm, he joined a shearing contractor and, after travelling widely, ended up at Jingellic.

“I arrived at night at nearby Talmalmo and the boss said: ‘wait until morning and see what you think of the place’,” he said.

“I woke up, opened my eyes and saw all the hills and thought: ‘this is God’s own country’.”

At his physical peak, Mr Beaver shore 260 sheep in a day.

Even now, he keeps up his skills and last week shore 20 sheep to help out a mate.

Because few young people are taking up the trade, he fears shearing is becoming a lost art.

“Back in my day, the cost of shearing a sheep would cover the price of a middy of beer — today what you are paid to shear a sheep doesn’t go close to doing that,” he said.

“But I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Mr Beaver and his wife had five children. His second eldest, daughter Kellie Scheitler, husband Yves and son, Lachlan, 5, live nearby at Talmalmo.

Sitting outside the Jingellic pub, Mr Beaver has an endless store of stories from his rough and tumble past.

“I have so many fond memories of Jingellic and can tell tales about the old drovers, rabbit trappers, the butter factory — it is all so different to how it is today,” he said.

Mr Beaver also spent some time working on the town’s bridge when it was rebuilt in 1959, about a kilometre downstream from the old one.

While he had seen many people come and go over the years, the country town had always had a strong community feeling.

“This town is very laid-back and family-oriented,” he said.

“The pub is like a community centre, everyone comes here.”

A keen darts player, Mr Beaver has been playing at the pub for years and is prepared to brag a little that he is “not too bad at it”.

“I like the pub, but I don’t drink now. When I did, I enjoyed every beer I had,” he said.

As well as shearing, Mr Beaver worked on the Snowy Mountain Scheme in the 1960s and has done his fair share of fencing, cutting firewood and boxing.

“Yep, I would get those gloves on for the Jingellic Show and had some good bouts,” he said.

His first trip back to England was in 1984.

“I was just in time to see my parents again,” he said.

“I’ve been back twice since but you know what? I couldn’t get back to Jingellic quick enough.”