training in Ecclesmachan, West Lothian in 1969, with an initial intake of 45 residential students and 100 day students. The college was local-authority owned by West Lothian District Council, having been established by a consortium of the district councils of West Lothian, Midlothian, East Lothian, Peebles, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Berwickshire.
The courses were initially taught in temporary accommodation on the farm site. New college buildings, workshops and accommodation were officially opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1974, and provided facilities for courses in agriculture, agricultural engineering, green keeping, horse care and forestry.
=== Elmwood College ===
Elmwood College was founded as Elmwood Agricultural and Technical College in 1972 as a rural further education institution based in Cupar, Fife. Its foundations were laid 20 years earlier when holding classes in the local school and cricket club before the education committee of Fife County Council acquired some land and erected a Nissen hut. This was followed by the purchase of Elmwood House, Gardens and Greenhouses in 1953 for £2,300. In 1956, the first day release classes in Scotland for agricultural and horticultural apprentices commenced at Elmwood Agricultural Centre. Elmwood College continued expanding during the 1960s and a new building was completed in 1972. By then Elmwood had also acquired Stratheden Hospital Farm.
Elmwood College was officially opened in 1972 by Hector Monro. The Scottish Technical Education Consultative Council had made recommendations in 1967 around establishing regional farm centres. The college had started classes about twenty years earlier, with student numbers rising from 100 to around 2000 by 1972. There were full-time as well as part-time courses, work based courses, and modern apprenticeships. Before the purpose-built building opened in 1972, classes had been held on borrowed premises over a few years. A 350-acre farm was attached to the college and it offered courses such as hill-farming and …
