The Farrer Old Boys Association are celebrating 75 years of Farrer from Friday, September 26 to Sunday, September 28 with a range of activities planned.

Local old boy, Brian Riordan, has a rich family history and association with Farrer.

His brother John started his education at the school in 1950, followed by Brian in 1954, John’s son Peter in 1976, Brian’s son Shayne in 1978 and his granddaughter’s husband Andrew Ruhmann in 1993.

Brian said the generational gap shows the difference in the school over the years.

“Our only mode of transport when I was at school was a draught horse and cart, which we had to saddle as part of our farm life,” Brian said.

“If we went to town we were all piled into the back of a dirty pig truck together.

“We also grew all our own vegies and milked our own cows and collected fresh eggs.”

Things changed a little by the time son Shayne attended Farrer, with the addition of a Ferguson tractor.

“We still milked the cows but it had to be pasteurised by then so was sent away,” Shayne said.

“But we still travelled to town in the old pig truck, they used to pull up in the main street of town and let us all out.”

By the time Andrew attended Farrer the school had its own bus, although cows were still milked as part of studies.

The grounds also changed considerably over the years, with only one class block, a dormitory, temporary wooden dorm, refectory and a few farm sheds in Brian’s day.

“The river was our swimming pool and windows were our air conditioning,” Brian said.

Shayne said ceiling fans were introduced during his schooling and an oval was built.

The gymnasium was installed while Andrew was enrolled and the pool later on.

The year Shayne enrolled at Farrer, was the first year students had to pass exams to attend the school.

All three old boys agreed mateship was a strong point of attending the school

“We were only small on numbers but we were strong on mateship,” Brian said, who captained first grade cricket and football while attending the school.

“We always had to stick up for each other in town,” Shayne said.

“I’ve made some good contacts from my time there, people who I still keep in touch with – it was like having 30 brothers,” Andrew said. 

Farrer was established in 1939 in Tamworth and has continued on as a traditional boys high school specialising in the Agricultural aspect. The Old Boys association was formed in 1944 by the first group of students that finished schooling in 1943.

The anniversary weekend will include special “get togethers” in and around Tamworth from Friday through to Sunday organised by each year group.

Barbecue lunch, school tours and sporting activities will be held during the day on Saturday at the school grounds.

A celebration dinner will be held on Saturday night at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre. Three course dinner, auction and entertainment. Tickets are $100 and must be purchased as soon as possible from the Tamworth Visitors Information Centre. Tickets are not available at the door.

For more information visit www.farreroldboys.com.au or download the Farrer Old Boys app.