THE sun came out for Southampton Show and the masses soon followed.

Nearly 50,000 people trod the ground of Southampton Common over the weekend of July 11-12, 1969.

The sudden fine weather no doubt had an influence on the impressive number of attendees.

The stalls did good business - one sold 11,000 cartons of drink while 5,500 show programmes were sold.

Marion Cloakes, Hampshire's famous showjumper, and her equally famous horse Stroller, silver medal winners at the Mexico Olympics, had a great reception when they won the South of England championship after an exciting contest.

One of the last events of the show were the thrilling parachute descents by the Red Devils of the Parachute Regiment.

After the show had closed, and produce had been sold, there were throngs of people straggling away from the show clutching their bunches of roses, pot plants and vegetables.