The time capsules were the project of a year nine History class and were constructed out of plumbing pipes.

Lead by their teacher Richard Mumford, the students had included items such as newspapers; a Sydney Morning Herald dated Monday, February 21, 1983 and a Forbes Advocate dated Tuesday, February 22 1983, magazines, catalogues and cassette tapes.

Ball point pens, coins, photocopied paper money, paper records and a key ring were also included.

Judith Taylor said when they opened the time capsules they found the items inside them had suffered extensive water damage.

“I got a surprise,” Mrs Taylor said of how she felt when they were opened.

Mrs Taylor believes the damage occurred because the capsules had been buried lying flat, rather than being stood up.

Three of the students involved in the project, Mark Taylor, Heidi Rattenbury and Anita Neville returned to Forbes for the opening.

Teacher Richard Mumford was unable to attend due to health reasons.

Mrs Taylor said she had heard of other schools having a similar problem with water damage in time capsules and they hoped to put future time capsules in a wall in the main office building with a plaque to indicate where it was.

The school had difficulty in locating the capsules prior to their opening, and were only lead to the right spot by following trees in the background of a photo taken by a Forbes Advocate reporter.

The capsules had been buried near a gate on the Wyndam Avenue side of the school.

All the items from the capsule have been laid out on a cloth in the administration block with another blanket over the top to help the items dry out.