A COLLEGE providing students with agricultural and land-based education is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

Staff and students at East Durham College’s Houghall campus, on the outskirts of Durham city, are marking the anniversary today.

The campus, which was founded as the Durham County School of Agriculture in 1938, is one of three which operate as part of East Durham College and offers a range of courses, from animal care and dog grooming to floristry, horticulture, tree surgery and veterinary nursing.

Suzanne Duncan, principal of East Durham College, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating the amazing 80th year of our Houghall campus.

“I am extremely proud of all of our hardworking students and staff who continue to make Houghall an excellent place to learn and work.

“We’re very excited to see what the next 80 years bring to Houghall too.”

There has been a farm at Houghall, which is off the A177 between Durham and Shincliffe, since the 12th century but in 1919 the land was bought by Durham County Council for the purposes of establishing an agricultural experimental school and training farm.

When it opened on October 20, 1938, by MP William Shepherd Morrison, who was the minister of agriculture and fisheries, it offered courses including general agriculture, horticulture, dairying and poultry-keeping.

In 1967, it became the Durham Agriculture College and expanded its courses to include things like experimental husbandry and veterinary hygiene.

By the end of the 1980s, the college had rebranded itself as Houghall College and In 1999, merged together with Peterlee College, forming East Durham and Houghall Community College.

It has been known as East Durham College, Houghall campus since 2008 and was extensively redeveloped between 2014 and 2016.

The new facilities, which include a small animal care centre, agricultural farm, equine centre and all-weather menage and horse arena, were officially opened by the Princess Royal in January 2017.

Among the other famous faces it has welcomed over eight decades include Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1959 and the Italian football squad, which stayed there during the 1966 World Cup - when the team did so badly they were flown back to Italy in disgrace.