THE bulldog spirit came splashing to the surface in Romsey at the weekend as a classic car show beat the atrocious weather and soggy ground conditions.

But as the summer's incredible rainfall continued, the Netley Marsh Steam and Craft Fair was left with its future in doubt and other big shows were thrown into turmoil A question mark now hangs over future steam and craft events after the showground reached saturation point and the final day's activities had to be called off.

It was the latest setback for shows in the UK in a summer which has hit two of Britain's biggest.

The Royal Show, at Stoneleigh, in Warwickshire, was called off a day early on July 3, and the CLA Game Fair, which attracted over 130,000 people to Romsey's Broadlands Estate last year, has been cancelled.

It should have started tomorrow (Friday), at Harewood House, near Leeds. But a decision was taken on Sunday to call it off because of the drenched state of the showground.

And the annual New Forest Show, at New Park, Brockenhurst, splashed into action in very sticky conditions on Tuesday, with some exhibitors having extreme difficulties in setting up their stands because of access problems with their vehicles.

The early finish at Netley Marsh was a heart-breaking blow for the show's dedicated directors, who had to carry out a major rescue act to put this year's show on after an £11,000 loss on last year's event.

With wet weather earlier in the week having already dampened the Netley Marsh Rally Field, things worsened during a very wet Friday.

"The weather turned to showers on Saturday, but the field became very muddy and we took the decision on Saturday not to hold the show on Sunday. We held the evening entertainment on Saturday night, but the only people still there were the exhibitors.

"Lots of volunteers worked really hard on Friday and Saturday to keep it open, but it just got too bad," said show secretary, Tony Greenham.

He added that vintage tractors which were part of the show were used by their owners to tow cars out of the flooded car park.

With a long list of attractions lined up, the decision to cancel the Sunday part of the show was a tough one for the show's directors, who will be holding a meeting shortly to establish how much money was lost at this year's event and to decide whether to keep the show going in the future.

"The weather at the weekend was heartbreaking. Nobody wants to lose the show, but all we can say at this stage is definitely in the balance," Mr Greenham said.

Only winners were the Victory Wheelers hot dog and custom car club, who staged their 30th anniversary show on the Broadlands Estate. Friday and Saturday were club days and the show was open to the public on Sunday.

Members who stayed on the Friday and Saturday had to endure some awful weather at times, but club chairman, Terry Clifford, said: "We woke up on the Friday morning not expecting many to turn up.

"But the good old British spirit came shining through and about 500 people arrived and booked in."

The classic cars at the show went on a "country cruise" around the Test Valley on Saturday and there was a successful static show on Sunday, which featured the classic vehicles, as well as the American-style hot-rods, with around 2,500 enthusiasts turning up to take a look.