Take a walk down memory lane at the 1991 Balmoral Show

I have been working my way steadily through these old negatives to shed a new light on the archive.

Today we have a selection of photographs which date from 1991 from the Balmoral Show of that year.

The opening day of the 124th Balmoral Show in May 1991 was officially opened by Mrs Lindsay Brooke, the wife of Sir Peter Brooke, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Mrs Brooke breezed in to the Department of Agriculture stand at 11.30am to present an award to Bangor’s Clandeboye Estate from the Royal Forestry Society, “which has branches all over the placed,” quipped Geoff Hill, the News Letter’s correspondent at the show.

He added: “And considering the troubles her husband's having at the moment, she looked relieved to arrive in a place where they've had no arguments about a venue since 1855.”

Mrs Brooke apologised for the absence of her “chatterbox” husband when she turned up at the show.

It was customary for the Secretary of State to pay a courtesy visit to the annual agricultural extravaganza. However, in 1991 Sir Peter had a pressing engagement elsewhere.

Mrs Brooke said: “I am sorry my husband could not be here, but I think we all know the reason for that and that is he is still talking, and they say women never stop talking, really.”

Mrs Brooke refused to answer questions on her husband's efforts to achieve a political settlement in the province, but preferred to concentrate on the show.

“I’m interested in anything to do with conservation in particular and I like animals of any description,” she said.

Have a look through our old photographs and see who you can spot.