IT WAS about 400 years ago that the first farms and farm workers' cottages were built in Chandler's Ford and, even by 1850, the total population was under 200.

Modern residents of the now flourishing area may be hard-pressed to imagine such scenes from yesteryear.

But a millennium exhibition currently on display at the Methodist Church's Dovetail Centre at Fryern Hill, is providing an opportunity to step back in time and get a glimpse of the past.

Eastleigh and District Local History Society - which has a fine collection of 10,000 old photos - is staging the event as part of a scheme for a touring exhibition featuring historical scenes from around the Eastleigh borough which attracted a grant from the Millennium Festival Awards For All.

Society chairman Gordon Cox said the idea had come from Eastleigh council's development manager Helen Coleman and various groups and societies had got together in a local history forum to mount the touring exhibition.

He said: "The idea was that each society could put on its own exhibition surrounded by exhibits from the rest of the borough."

Eastleigh mayor Jane Welsh gave the Chandler's Ford show a civic send off commenting: "I am sure we all realise how important it is to preserve the local history of our area.

"Each part of the borough has its own history and I hope that today will be the first of many exhibitions in the borough."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.