The following article, by Michael Lewis, appeared in the January, 2003 edition (p.5) of the Hawkesbury Independant : Your Street : Dormitory Hill Road Now a National Park, the land surrounding Scheyville's Dormitory Hill Road has had a varied past, including stints as a training farm, migrant accomodation centre and army training grounds. The road obtained its name from the dormitory adjacent to the road that was originally used to accomodate young male British migrants in the early 20th century. The land's first use dates back to 1893 when 930 hectares, originally part of the Pitt Town Common, became the Pitt Town Co-operative Labour Settlement. The original plan was to establish families on the land, similar to a commune, who would ultimately benefit from the profits. The land was to provide an alternative form of employment specifically for the breadwinners of families during the 1890's depression. Despite a successful start, the scheme disbanded and from 1896 to1910 the site became known as the Casual Labour Farm where unemployed men were housed in return for their keep. Between 1910 and 1939, the site was used to house more than 7,500 British boys aged between 14 and 19, who had migrated to Australia. They were sent to Scheyville to gain experience as agricultural labourers. The boys were originally sponsored by the Dreadnought Society which diverted unused funds from a failed plan to purchase a Dreadnought class battleship for the Australian Navy to pay for their migration and training. Up to 100 boys could be accomodated at a time and the farm flourished with wheat, oats, maize, potatoes and other crops. Every item on the menu at the boy's dormitory except bread, tea and sugar was grown on the farm. The students learnt most aspects of farming life, including shearing, dairying and first-hand experience in saw-milling, black-smithing, saddlery and wheel-wrighting. Many of the boys had to contend with loneliness, hard work and adapting to the Australian way of life. Fortunately, regular Saturday night dances were held at the dormitory hall where mothers would bring their daughters from Windsor. The training farm ceased operation due to the onset of WW11, when the area became occupied by the Army, used by the First Parachute Battalion and several artillery units. Following the war, the camp was used as a migrant accomodation centre to accomodate the influx of migrants to Australia between 1949 and 1964. Within months of the centre opening there were 1,200 migrants and staff installed. >From 1965 to 1973, the area operated as an Officer Training Unit for men on National Service. The men were trained as infantry platoon commanders specifically for the hostilities of jungle warfare conditions in Vietnam. Following the abolition of National Service, the land was leased by Hawkesbury Agricultural College for five years, but since then has been the centre of a number of proposals including a prison, an airport, a rubbish tip and a residential village before becoming a National Park. Cheers, Diane