The agricultural school that existed for just 18 years

About 21 former students, along with several of their partners, from the class of 1958 to 1962 reunited in Wagga Wagga last Thursday, swapping stories from their school days and catching up on their lives since.

The school was located 24 kilometres south of Goulburn.

It was a secondary boys boarding school with students mostly from farms and rural towns across NSW, as well as from Victoria and Queensland, along with a very small number of local day students.

An article in the March 2, 1953, edition of Canberra Times reported the property Inveralochy was purchased by the Catholic church for 95,000 pounds.

Building operations for the college began in 1952 by the firm of LG Price Pty Ltd of Philip Street, Sydney.

The article said during 1952 more than 500,000 bricks were laid with another 250,000 estimated to be laid during 1953.

The construction work including a piggery, dairy, workshops, fowl houses and handball courts.

The development of the college was largely supported by the people of the archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, with 175,000 pounds having been collected at the time of the article.

Additions were also made to the existing homestead and stables turned into workshops, while manager's residence, machinery, hay and wool sheds, and shearer's huts already existed on the property.

The inauguration of the school was held on September 26, 1954, and was also founded as a memorial to servicemen of the archdiocese who fought in World War I and World War II.

In its first year a total of 80 boarders were enrolled.

The college was not open for long, closing in 1972, with reasons including the possibility it became unsustainable with the drought and drop in farm income from the mid 60s.

The college was small with numbers peaking at about 140 students, and about 700 students attending over the years.

The school was adjacent to a 2000 hectare farm and students also worked there during the busy parts of the farm year, including for harvest, sowing and shearing.

Along with the normal education, farm trades including blacksmithing, tinsmithing, leather and woodwork, shearing, wool classing and engineering were taught.

The class of the reunion had 37 boarders enter in year seven, with numbers fluctuating throughout their school years with 12 of the original together with 10 others, sat for the leaving certificate.

Some of the class returned to family farms, while many went on to obtain trades and off-farm jobs.

Former student, Tony Pass, Warnervale, who was the youngest in the class, said the number of ex-students had been decreasing exponentially so another reunion was needed. The previous reunion was held in 2011.

Mr Pass said he had many funny memories from his school days. One that came straight to mind was the time some of the other boys taped a tiger snake to the lid of his desk in the classroom.

"We were never bored," he said.