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The City of Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority in the East of England. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire.

City of Peterborough
Geography
Status:	Unitary, City (1541)
Region:	East of England
Ceremonial County:	Cambridgeshire
Historic County:	Northamptonshire
Area: - Total	Ranked 140th 343.38 km²
Admin. HQ:	Peterborough
ONS code:	00JA
Demographics
Population: - Total (2022) - Density	Ranked / km²
Ethnicity:	89.7% White 7.0% South Asian 1.2% Afro-Caribbean 0.3% Chinese 0.3% other 1.5% mixed
Peterborough City Council
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
MPs:	Stewart Jackson, Shailesh Vara, Malcolm Moss

Peterborough Town Hall is located 73.7 miles (118.6 km) north from the centre of London at Charing Cross. The city is situated on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the north-east. The local topography is notoriously flat and low-lying, and in some places lies below sea-level. The area known as the Fens falls to the east of Peterborough.

The City of Peterborough includes the outlying settlement at RAF Wittering and as a unitary authority borders Northamptonshire to the west, Lincolnshire to the north, and Cambridgeshire to the south and east.

In 2006 the city had an estimated population of 161,000.

History

Early history

Remains of Bronze Age settlement can be seen at the Flag Fen archaeological site to the north-east of the current city centre.

The Romans first established the fort of Durobrivae in the vicinity around AD 43 which later grew into the town. Romans also left their mark at Flag Fen.

Peterborough (Gildenburgh, Burgus sancti Petri) is proved by its original name Medeshampstede to have been a Saxon village before AD 655 when Saxulf, a monk, founded the monastery on land granted to him for that purpose by Peada, King of Mercia. The Peterborough Chronicle, or later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, was composed here by monks. Its name was altered to Burgh between AD 992 and 1005 after Abbot Kenulf had built a defensive wall around the minster; but the town does not appear to have been a borough until the twelfth century. The burgesses received their first charter from "Abbot Robert" — probably Robert of Sutton (1262 - 1273).

When civil war broke out, Peterborough was divided between supporters of King Charles I (known as Cavaliers) and supporters of the Long Parliament, (known as Roundheads). The city lay on the border of the Eastern Association of Counties which sided with Parliament, and the war reached Peterborough in 1643 when soldiers arrived in the city to attack Royalist strongholds at Stamford and Crowland. The Royalist forces were defeated within a few weeks and they retired to Burghley House, where they were captured and sent to Cambridge. While the Parliamentary soldiers were in Peterborough however, they ransacked the cathedral, destroying the lady chapel, chapter house, cloister, high altar and choir stalls, as well as mediæval decoration and records.

Historically the dean and chapter, who succeeded the abbot as lords of the manor, appointed a high bailiff, and the constables and other borough officers were elected at their court leet; but the municipal borough was incorporated in 1874 under the government of a mayor, six aldermen and 18 councillors. Among the privileges claimed by the abbot as early as the thirteenth century was that of having a prison for felons taken in the soke. In 1576 Bishop Scamble sold the lordship of the hundred of Nassaburgh, which is coextensive with the soke, to Queen Elizabeth I, who gave it to Lord Burghley, and from that time until the nineteenth century he and his descendants, the Marquesses of Exeter, had a separate gaol for prisoners arrested in the soke.

Trades and crafts

The abbot formerly held four fairs, of which two, St. Peter's Fair, granted in 1189 and later held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday in July, and the Brigge Fair, granted in 1439 and later held on the first Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in October, were purchased by the corporation from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1876.

The Bridge Fair, as it is now known, granted to the abbey by King Henry VI, still survives. Prayers for the opening of the fair were said at the morning service in the cathedral, followed by a civic proclamation and a sausage lunch at the Town Hall. It is traditional for the Mayor to lead a procession from the Town Hall to the fair where the proclamation is read, asking all persons to "behave soberly and civilly, and to pay their just dues and demands."

Industrial Revolution

During the 1840s, railway lines began to open locally, but it was the Great Northern Railway's main line from London to York, which opened in 1850, that transformed Peterborough from a market town to an industrial centre. Lord Exeter had opposed the railway passing through Stamford, so Peterborough, situated between two main terminals at London and Doncaster, increasingly developed as a regional railway hub.

The railway, coupled with vast local clay deposits, enabled large scale brick making and distribution to take place. The area was the UK's leading producer of bricks for much of the twentieth century. Brick making had been a small seasonal craft since the early nineteenth century, but during the 1890s successful experiments at Fletton using the harder clays from a lower level had created a much more efficient process.

Perkins Engines was established in Peterborough in 1932 by Frank Perkins creator of the Perkins Diesel Engine. Thirty years later it employed more than a tenth of the population of Peterborough, mainly at Eastfield. Baker Perkins had relocated from London to Westwood, now the site of HMP Peterborough, in 1903, followed by Peter Brotherhood to Walton in 1906; both manufacturers of industrial machinery they too became major employers in the city.

Modern history

Designated a New Town in 1968, the Peterborough Development Corporation was formed in partnership with the city and county councils to house London's overspill population in new townships sited around the existing urban area. There were to be four townships; at Bretton, Orton, Paston/Werrington and Castor. The last of these was never built, but a fourth township, called Hampton, is now taking shape south of the city.

It was decided that the city should have a major indoor shopping centre at its heart. Planning permission was received in the late summer of 1976 and Queensgate, which contains over 90 stores and includes parking for 2,300 cars, was opened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1982. A new network of high-speed roads, known as Parkways, was also constructed around the city at this time.

In the period between 1971 and 1991 Peterborough's population grew by 45.4%. New service-sector companies like Thomas Cook and Pearl Assurance were also attracted to the city, ending the dominance of the manufacturing industry as employers.

In 2005 a new Urban Regeneration Company, named Opportunity Peterborough, was set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to oversee Peterborough's future development. From 2006 to 2012 a £1 billion re-development of the city centre and surrounding areas will take place.

Administration

Local Government

From 1889 the Soke of Peterborough formed an administrative county in its own right with boundaries similar, although not identical, to the current unitary authority. The area however remained nominally part of Northamptonshire until 1965, when the Soke of Peterborough was merged with Huntingdonshire to form the county of Huntingdon and Peterborough.

In 1974 Huntingdon and Peterborough was abolished and the current district was created by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Peterborough, Peterborough Rural District and Barnack Rural District with Thorney Rural District, Old Fletton Urban District and part of the Norman Cross Rural District, which had existed since 1894. This became part of the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire.

In 1998 the city was given independence from Cambridgeshire county council as a unitary authority but it continues to form part of that county for ceremonial purposes. The leader and cabinet model of decision-making, first adopted by the city council in 2001, is similar to national government.

Health Service

Peterborough Primary Care Trust guides primary care services (GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacists) in the city, directly provides adult social care and services in the community such as health visiting and physiotherapy and also funds hospital care and other specialist treatments. Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the country's top performing NHS acute trusts. In 2004 it became one of the first ten NHS foundation trusts in England.

A £300 million health investment plan will see the transfer of the city's two hospitals to a single site by building a modern, flexible facility more suited to modern healthcare. The full planning application for the redevelopment of the Edith Cavell Hospital site was approved by the council in 2006. Planning permission for the development of an Integrated Care Centre on the existing site of the Fenland Wing at Peterborough District Hospital was granted in 2003.

Politics

Peterborough sent two members to parliament for the first time in 1547 and from 1885 representation was reduced to one. The serving member is the Conservative, Stewart Jackson MP, who defeated Labour's Helen Clark in the 2005 general election.

In 1997 the North West Cambridgeshire constituency was created covering part of the city. The serving member is the Conservative, Shailesh Vara MP, who succeeded the (then) Rt Hon Dr Sir Brian Mawhinney in 2005.

Mawhinney, who had previously served as Member of Parliament for Peterborough from 1979, was created Baron Mawhinney of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire in 2005.

Peterborough is included in the East of England constituency for elections to the European Parliament.

Economy

Regeneration

Peterborough is currently experiencing an economic boom compared to the rest of the country, believed to be due to the regeneration plan laid out for the city over the coming decade or so. In 2005 economic growth on average for the UK was 5.5%, whilst in Peterborough it was 6.9%, the highest in the UK.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Peterborough at current basic prices, with figures in millions of pounds sterling:

In January 2007 Peterborough was named as the leading city in driving forward the UK's business growth. Peterborough now leads the way with an impressive 3.78% increase in business population growth between April and September 2006.

Employment

According to the 2001 census, the workplace population of 90,656 is divided into 60,118 people who live in Peterborough and 30,358 people who commute in. A further 13,161 residents commute out of the city to work. Earnings in Peterborough are lower than average. Median earnings are £9.77 per hour, less than the regional median of £11.69 and the national median hourly rate of £11.26. As part of the government's M11 corridor Peterborough is committed to creating 17,500 jobs with the population growing to 200,000 by 2020.

Future employment will also be created through the master plan for the city centre launched by the council in 2003. Predictions of the levels and types of employment created were published in 2005. These include 1,421 jobs created in retail; 1,067 created in a variety of leisure and cultural developments; 338 in three hotels; and a further 4,847 jobs created in offices and other workspaces. Recent relocations of large employers include both Tesco (1,070 employees) and Debenhams (850 employees) distribution centres. A further 2,500 jobs are to be created in the £140 million Gateway warehouse and distribution park, this will help offset the expected 6,000 job loses in traditional industries, such as manufacturing, which have been predicted in a report cited by cabinet member for economic growth and regeneration.

Peterborough, with traditionally low levels of unemployment, is a popular destination for workers and has seen significant growth through the migration of workers over decades; from the city's Italian and Polish communities in the post-war era to present day. The leader of the city council said he believed Peterborough had taken up to 80% of the 65,000 people who had arrived in East Anglia from countries such as Poland and Slovakia. Demand for short term employees from organisations remains high and the market supports up to 20 high street recruitment agencies at any one time.

Transport

Railways

Peterborough is a major stop on the East Coast Main Line, around 45 - 50 minutes journey time from central London, with high-speed intercity services from King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley operated by the Great North Eastern Railway and slower commuter services terminating at Peterborough operated by First Capital Connect.

It is a major railway junction where a number of cross-country routes converge. Central Trains operate the Peterborough to Lincoln Line, the Birmingham to Peterborough Line and with 'one', the Ely to Peterborough Line with through services to Norwich or Cambridge and Stansted Airport. As part of its citylink service, Central Trains operate routes from Birmingham New Street to London Stansted and from Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich via the main line north of Peterborough then the Nottingham to Grantham Line.

River

The River Nene, made navigable from the port at Wisbech to Northampton by 1761, passes through the city centre and a rather pretty green bridge carries the railway over the river. It was built in 1847 by Lewis Cubitt, who was more famous for his bridges in Australia, India and South America. Apart from some minor repairs in 1910 (the steel bands and cross braces around the fluted legs) the bridge remains just the way he built it. Now a listed structure, it is the oldest surviving cast-iron railway bridge in the UK.

Key Ferry Cruises operate river trips from the city centre between April and September.

Roads

The A1/A1(M) broadly follows the path of the historic Great North Road from St. Paul's Cathedral at the heart of London, through Peterborough (Junction 17), continuing north a further 335 miles (539 km) to central Edinburgh. Ermine Street used to pass through Durobrivae, the slight remains of which can be seen to the east, alongside the A1 at Peterborough.

Despite its large-scale growth, Peterborough has the fastest peak and off-peak travel times for a city of its size in the UK, due to the construction of the Parkways. Bus services in the city are operated by several companies including the Stagecoach Group (Cambus and Viscount) and Delaine Buses.

Aviation

Peterborough has a business airport with a paved runway at Holme and a recreational airfield hosting a well-known parachute school at Sibson.

Cycling

The Peterborough Millennium Green Wheel is a 50 mile (80 km) network of cycleways, footpaths and bridleways which provide safe, continuous routes around the city with radiating spokes connecting to the city centre. The project has also created a sculpture trail, which provides functional, landscape artworks along the Green Wheel route and a Living Landmarks project involving the local community in the creation of local landscape features such as mini woodlands, ponds and hedgerows.

Another long distance footpath, the Hereward Way, runs from Oakham in Rutland, through Peterborough, to East Harling in Norfolk.

Policy

The Local Transport Plan anticipates expenditure totalling around £180 million for the period up to 2010 on major road schemes to accommodate development.

Education

Secondary

Peterborough's secondary education system is currently undergoing immense change. Five of the city's fifteen secondary schools are to be closed and demolished over the coming few years, replaced with flagship academies which are set to open in September 2007. These include the Voyager Media Arts College and Thomas Deacon Academy. Some of the schools that remain will be extended and enlarged. Over £200 million is to be spent and the changes on-going from 2005 to 2010.

The King's School, Peterborough is one of seven schools established, or in some cases re-endowed and renamed, by King Henry VIII in 1541 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Tertiary

The city has its own Further Education colleges, Peterborough Regional College (established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College) and Peterborough College of Adult Education. The college attracts over 15,000 students each year, from the UK and abroad. It is currently ranked in the top 5% of colleges in the UK.

The city is currently without its own university, since Loughborough University closed its Peterborough campus in 2003. In 2006 however, Peterborough Regional College was in talks with Anglia Ruskin University to develop a new university campus for the city.

Demographics

Population

Peterborough is home to one of the largest concentration of Italian immigrants in the UK. This is mainly as a result of labour recruitment in the 1950s by the London Brick Company in the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Campania. By 1960 approximately 3,000 Italian men were employed by London Brick, mostly at the Fletton works. In 1962 the Scalabrini Fathers, who first arrived in Peterborough in 1956, purchased an old school and converted it into a church named after the patron saint of workers San Giuseppe. By 1991 over 3,000 christenings of second-generation Italians had been carried out there.

The population of Peterborough has, over the last few years, grown much faster than the national average, mainly due to immigration. In the late twentieth century, the main source of immigration has been from commonwealth countries such as India and Pakistan. A more recent issue is that an unknown figure of eastern Europeans from accession states have moved to Peterborough since 2004. This may mean that the population figures, based on the 2001 census, are an underestimate. The East of England Regional Assembly estimate that 16,000 eastern Europeans are now living in Peterborough.

Modern Peterborough is a rapidly developing city and one that continues to change. The city hasn't changed without problems however. In May 2004 groups of Pakistani residents clashed with Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers. In the "running street battles," houses and cars were set alight and windows were smashed. Some people were hospitalised. The fighting occurred in the multicultural Millfield area of the city. In July of that year, a festival set up by the Indian community to celebrate the city's diversity turned violent. Pakistanis and Iraqis clashed over the weekend, leaving a man in hospital and large gangs fighting. Since then, race relations have improved significantly.

The number of languages in use is growing and diversity is spreading where previously few languages other than English were spoken. Peterborough now offers classes in Italian, Urdu and Punjabi in its primary schools.

As Peterborough expands and attracts more UK and foreign citizens, it has introduced a new statutory development plan. Its aim is to accommodate an extra 22,000 homes, 18,000 jobs and over 40,000 people living in Peterborough by 2020. The Hampton township will be completed, south Stanground will have a 1,500 home development and Paston a 1,200 home development. To help cope with the influx of people moving to the city, thought to be many thousands a year, the council has put forward plans to construct an average of 1,300 homes every year until 2021.

Religion

Christianity has the largest following in Peterborough, in particular the Church of England, with a significant number of churches and a cathedral. Recent immigration to the city has also seen the established Roman Catholic population increase substantially. Other denominations are also represented; the latest church to be constructed is a £7 million "superchurch" that can hold up to 1,800 people.

In comparison with the rest of the country, Peterborough has a lower proportion of Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Sikhs. However, the city has a higher percentage of Muslims (and atheists) than the national average. The majority of Muslims reside in the Millfield and New England areas of the city, where two large mosques (including the Faidhan-e-Madina Mosque) are based. Peterborough also has both Hindu (Bharat Hindu Samaj) and Sikh (Singh Sabha Gurdwara) temples in these areas.

The Anglican Diocese of Peterborough covers about 1,200 square miles (3,100 km²), including the whole of Northamptonshire, Rutland, and the Soke of Peterborough (the part of the city north of the River Nene). The parts of the city south of the river, historically in Huntingdonshire, fall within the Diocese of Ely, which covers the rest of Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk. However, the current Bishop of Peterborough has also been appointed as an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely, with pastoral care for these parishes delegated to him by the Bishop of Ely.

Culture

The Arts

Each year Peterborough enjoys a wide range of events including the annual East of England Show, Peterborough Festival and CAMRA beer festival which takes place on the river embankment at the end of August.

The Key Theatre seats 379 and has a unique atmosphere, providing both intimacy and an excellent view for all patrons. The programme is made up of home-grown productions, national touring shows, local community productions and a full programme of one-off concerts. There is disabled access, an infrared hearing system for the deaf and hard of hearing and there are also regular signed performances. Situated by the river embankment, the theatre provides entertainment, enlightenment and education by reflecting the rich culture Peterborough has to offer.

In 1937 the Odeon Cinema opened on Broadway, Peterborough and operated successfully for more than 50 years. In 1991 the Odeon showed it's last film to the public and was left to fall into a state of disrepair until 1997 when a local entrepreneur, Peter Boizot, purchased the building as part of a larger project including a restaurant and art gallery. Four years later The Broadway was re-opened in its current form. Today it is one of the largest theatres in the region and offers the very best of live entertainment including music, comedy and films.

The John Clare Theatre within the central library, also on Broadway, is home to the Peterborough Film Society.

The Cresset in Bretton is one of the region's leading venues, providing a wide range of events for the residents of the city and beyond, including theatre, comedy, music and dance.

The city also includes a Showcase Cinema, an ice rink and two bowling alleys. Throughout the city there are a diverse range of restaurants. These include Chinese & Cantonese, Indian & Nepalese, Thai and many Italian restaurants. In the closing months of 2006, Polish, Japanese and Mexican restaurants were all opened.

Sport

Peterborough United FC, known as The Posh, has been the local football club since 1934. The ground is situated at London Road on the south bank of the River Nene. The Posh have a proud history of cup giant-killings. They set the record for the highest number of league goals scored in a season with 134 goals during their first season in the Football League in 1960/1, when they won the Fourth Division title, with Terry Bly scoring 52 of them. Irish property developer Darragh MacAnthony was appointed chairman in 2006 and is currently undertaking a lengthy purchase of the club from Barry Fry. Once this is completed, MacAnthony has promised to move The Posh to a new all-seater stadium.

As well as football, Peterborough has teams competing in rugby, cricket, hockey, ice hockey and athletics.

Although Cambridgeshire is not a first-class cricket county, Northamptonshire staged some home matches in the city between 1906 and 1974.

Peterborough Town Cricket Club and Peterborough Town Hockey Club compete at their shared ground in Westwood; whereas the city's oldest and most successful rugby team, Peterborough Rugby Union Football Club, now play at Fortress Fengate.

Peterborough Phantoms are the city's ice hockey team, playing in the English Premier Ice Hockey League.

Peterborough Athletic Club train and compete at the embankment athletics arena. The club has proved successful in producing talented athletes over the years.

Speedway (a form of motorcycle racing) is also a popular sport in Peterborough with races being held at the East of England Showground.

Media

There is a major radio transmitter at Morborne, approximately eight miles (13 km) west of Peterborough, for national FM radio (BBC Radio 1 - 4 and Classic FM) and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. This facility includes a 505 feet (154 m) high guyed radio mast which collapsed in 2004 after a fire and has since been re-built.

There is also another transmission site at Gunthorpe, in the north east of the city. This transmits AM/MW and local FM radio. The site is only 10 feet (3 m) above sea level and has a 270 feet (83 m) high active insulated guyed mast situated on it.

Peterborough has four local radio stations and one regional station. Hereward FM, named after Hereward the Wake, is the original independent local radio station in the city and still holds a large section of the market. Hereward's sister station Classic Gold 1332 is now part of the national Classic Gold network. Lite FM 106.8 is Peterborough's second commercial radio station and Radio Cambridgeshire, which also has studios in the city, broadcasts local output in place of the countywide programming on 95.7 MHz at peak listening times. Kiss 105-108 is the regional station for the East of England.

Peterborough is in the Anglia Television franchise area for Independent Television. This is transmitted with BBC One and Two (East), Channel 4 and Channel 5 from Sandy Heath. The digital switchover will take place in 2011.

The Peterborough Evening Telegraph or ET is the city's newspaper, published Monday to Saturday with local news, jobs, property, motors and entertainment supplements and a Saturday lifestyle magazine. The Evening Telegraph is owned by East Midlands Newspapers Ltd, part of Johnston Press Plc. Its website, Peterborough Today, is updated six days a week.

The Peterborough Herald and Post is the weekly free paper delivered to every home in the city. The Herald and Post is owned by Midlands Weekly Media Ltd, part of Trinity Mirror Plc.

Peterborough is also home to one the UK's largest media conglomorates, EMAP.

Attractions and landmarks

Peterborough Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, originally founded as a monastery in AD 655, was re-built in its present form between 1118 and 1238 and has been the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough since the Diocese was created in 1541.

The Cathedral has the distinction of having had two queens buried beneath its paving, Katherine of Aragon and Mary, Queen of Scots. The remains of Mary were later removed to Westminster Abbey by her son James I when he became King of England.

Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery

Peterborough Museum is housed in a Georgian townhouse, built in 1816, which served as the city's first infirmary from 1857 to 1928.

The museum has a collection of some 227,000 objects, including local archaeology (from the products of the local Roman pottery industry to Britain's oldest known murder victim); one of the finest collections of marine dinosaurs in the world; local art and social history including manuscripts of the romantic poet John Clare; and the Norman Cross collection of items made by French Prisoners of War. These prisoners were kept at Norman Cross on the outskirts of Peterborough from 1797 to 1814 in what is believed to be the world's first purpose built prisoner of war camp.

The museum also holds regular temporary exhibitions, weekend events and guided tours.

The Guildhall

The general layout of Peterborough is attributed to Martin de Vecti who, as abbot from 1133 to 1155, rebuilt the settlement on dry limestone to the west of the monastery, rather than the often-flooded marshlands to the east. Abbot Martin was responsible for laying out the market place and the wharf beside the river.

Peterborough's magnificent seventeenth century Guildhall, built shortly after the restoration of King Charles II, is supported by columns to provide an open ground floor for the butter and poultry markets which used to be held there. The Market Place was renamed Cathedral Square and the adjacent Gates Memorial Fountain removed to Bishop's Road Gardens in 1963, when the weekly market was moved to the site of the old cattle market.

Burghley House

A country house to the north of Peterborough, near Stamford, built for Sir William Cecil, later 1st Baron Burghley, who was Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I from 1555 to 1587. The house, with a park laid out by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown in the eighteenth century, is one of the principal examples of sixteenth century English architecture.

The estate hosts the annual Burghley Horse Trials.

Longthorpe Tower

A fourteenth century, three-storey tower and fortified manor house in the care of English Heritage, situated in the village of Longthorpe, about two miles (3 km) to the west of the city centre. Longthorpe Tower contains the finest and most complete set of domestic paintings of the period in northern Europe.

Exhibitions are held from time to time by local artists.

The Park

A beautiful Victorian park containing formal gardens, children's play areas, an aviary, bowling green, pitch and putt course, large open fields, tennis courts and the Butter Cross Tea Rooms which offer a range of food and drinks seven days a week.

The Park has been awarded the Green Flag, the national standard for parks and green spaces, by the Civic Trust.

Flag Fen

Flag Fen is a Bronze Age archaeological site discovered in 1982. There is a heritage centre on site, with a museum and exhibitions where visitors can see many of the artefacts that have been found, including what is believed to be the oldest wheel in Britain.

An exposed section of the Roman road known as the Fen Causeway also crosses the site.

Nene Valley Railway

A seven and a half mile (12 km) heritage railway, one of the last passenger lines to fall under the Beeching Axe, the Nene Valley Railway runs from the city centre to Wansford via the 500 acre (202 ha) Ferry Meadows country park.

Ferry Meadows is one of the major destinations and attractions signposted on the route of the Green Wheel.

Famous Peterborians

Peterborough is the birthplace of many celebrities and historical figures, including the astronomer George Alcock. Musicians include Andy Bell, lead singer of the electronic pop band Erasure, who was born and spent his youth in Peterborough; Don Lusher, trombonist; Keith Palmer, better known as Maxim Reality, member of dance music band The Prodigy; Gizz Butt, who played guitar with The Prodigy, and still lives in the area; Nigel Sixsmith, founder member of The Art Of Sound, a musician and well known keytar player; and Sir Thomas Armstrong an organist, conductor, educationalist and adjudicator. Other names from the entertainment world include Paul Nicholas, actor and singer; Sarah Cawood, television presenter; Adrian Durham, radio presenter for talkSPORT; Barrie Forgie, leader of the BBC Big Band; scientist and broadcaster Prof. Brian J. Ford; and West Ham United footballer Matthew Etherington, who started his football career at Peterborough United.

Two famous businessmen are Peter Boizot MBE, founder of the Pizza Express restaurant chain, who has supported the cultural and sporting development of the city, including a spell as owner and chairman of Peterborough United; and Sir Henry Royce, co-founder of Rolls-Royce.

Finally, two historical figures were born locally, the poet John Clare and Hereward the Wake, an outlaw who led resistance against William the Conqueror and now lends his name to several places and businesses in Peterborough.

Affiliations

Peterborough is twinned with the following towns:

• Alcalá de Henares, Spain (Katherine of Aragon's birthplace) (since 1986)
• Bourges, France (since 1957)
• Forlì, Italy (since 1981)
• Viersen, Germany (since 1982)
• Vinnytsya, Ukraine (since 1991)

Local geography

Areas of the city

Townships in Bold.

Bretton - Dogsthorpe - Eastfield - Eastgate - Fengate - Fletton - Gunthorpe - Hampton - Longthorpe - Millfield - Netherton - Newark - New England - The Ortons - Paston - Parnwell - Ravensthorpe - Stanground - Walton - Werrington - West Town - Westwood - Woodston

Villages in the district

Civil parishes.

Ailsworth - Bainton - Barnack - Borough Fen - Castor - Deeping Gate - Etton - Eye - Glinton - Helpston - Marholm - Maxey - Newborough - Northborough - Peakirk - Southorpe - Sutton - Thorney - Thornhaugh - Ufford - Upton - Wansford - Wittering - Wothorpe

Notes

1. Confirmed by Letters Patent issued under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 25 June 1974, see the London Gazette (Issue 46334) published 28 June 1974
2. 2001 Census Area Statistics Office for National Statistics, April 2001
3. House of Commons Hansard Written Answers HC Deb 19 July 2006 (vol.449) cc.517-518W
4. Chisholm, Hugh (ed.) Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.) London, 1911 (text in the public domain)
5. Davies, Elizabeth et al. Peterborough: A Story of City and Country, People and Places (pp.18-19) Peterborough City Council and Pitkin Unichrome, 2001
6. King, Richard John Handbook to the Cathedrals of England (p.77) John Murray, Peterborough, 1862
7. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Wm. IV c.76)
8. Chisholm, op. cit.
9. Ibid.
10. Davies, op. cit. (pp.23-24)
11. Ibid. (pp.26-27)
12. Under the New Towns Act 1965 (1965 cap.59) cf. The Peterborough Development Corporation (Transfer of Property and Dissolution) Order 1988 (SI 1988/1410)
13. Greater Peterborough Master Plan, Peterborough Development Corporation, 1971
14. ^ "The Plan for Peterborough City Centre" (PDF). Peterborough City Council, East of England Development Agency and English Partnerships. February 2005.
15. Under the Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c.41)
16. The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order 1964 (SI 1964/367), see Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967), East Midlands General Review Area (Report No.3), July 1961 and Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area (Report No.9), May 1965
17. Under the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c.73)
18. Under the Local Government Act 1972 (1972 cap.70)
19. The Cambridgeshire (City of Peterborough) (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1878), see Local Government Commission for England (1992), Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire, October 1994 and Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin, December 1995
20. The annual health check: assessing and rating the NHS Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, October 2006
21. Greater Peterborough Health Investment Plan Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough Primary Care Trust and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership Trust (retrieved 23 April 2007)
22. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c.23)
23. Peterborough's Community Strategy Greater Peterborough Partnership, Progress Report Summary 2006
24. Regional Gross Value Added (pp.240-253) Office for National Statistics, December 2006
25. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
26. Includes hunting and forestry
27. Includes energy and construction
28. Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
29. Opportunity Peterborough delighted with business barometer Opportunity Peterborough, January 2007
30. A full breakdown by occupation type can be found by visiting the East of England Observatory
31. NOMIS Official Labour Market Statistics Office for National Statistics (retrieved 31 March 2006)
32. EMPLOYMENT: Projects promise jobs to end worrying trend Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 23 March 2006
33. JOBS: Boom Time Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 18 April 2005
34. BUSINESS: Distribution park will bring 2,500 jobs to city Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 12 September 2006
35. LIMIT PLEA: Fears over immigrants Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 23 August 2006
36. Under the Nene Navigation Acts 1714 (12 Anne c.7), 1725 (11 Geo. I c.19), 1756 (29 Geo. II c.69) and 1794 (34 Geo. III c.85)
37. The Second Local Transport Plan Peterborough City Council, March 2006
38. Secondary School Review Peterborough City Council (retrieved 15 April 2007)
39. Orme, Nicholas School founders and patrons in England, 597–1560 Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, October 2006
40. Nasta, Tony Statutory Inspection of Peterborough Regional College under Section 3 of the School Inspections Act 1996 (1996 cap.57) Office for Standards in Education and Adult Learning Inspectorate, April 2004
41. Major step towards university for Peterborough Anglia Ruskin University, 22 February 2006
42. £10 million boost for university facility in Peterborough Anglia Ruskin University, 11 December 2006
43. Colpi, Terry The Italian Factor: the Italian Community in Great Britain (p.149) Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 1991
44. Ibid. (p.235)
45. 2001 Census Profile of Peterborough Cambridgeshire County Council, June 2003
46. Reid, Sue The town the Poles took over Mail on Sunday, 24 August 2006
47. Patrols to quell violent clashes BBC News, 20 May 2004
48. Ethnic groups clash at festival BBC News, 26 July 2004
49. Peterborough Local Plan (First Replacement) Peterborough City Council, July 2005
50. Housing Strategy Statement Peterborough City Council, July 2004
51. How immigration has led to the rebirth of the Catholic Church Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 27 February 2007
52. Peterborough superchurch to open Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 21 September 2006
53. Ethnicity and Religion in Peterborough Cambridgeshire County Council, October 2004
54. RELIGION: Bishops bridge boundaries aboard boat Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 02 August 2004
55. Bridging the divide in a city Diocese of Ely, 29 July 2004
56. For tourist information, see Destination Guide for Peterborough English Tourist Board
57. Conn, David Posh fans wary of pitfalls on road to the Premiership The Guardian, 25 October 2006
58. Mast fire 'could be deliberate' BBC News, 01 November 2004
59. FIRE: Mast blaze brings radio blackout Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 01 November 2004
60. Sweeting, Walter Debenham The Cathedral Church of Peterborough: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See (pp.3-35) G. Bell and Sons, London, 1926 (text available from Project Gutenberg, retrieved 23 April 2007)
61. For more details on this topic, see Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
62. Skinner, Julia (with particular reference to the work of Robert Cook) Did You Know? Peterborough - A Miscellany (pp.33, 25 & 16) The Francis Frith Collection, Salisbury, 2006
63. Turner, Roger Capability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape (pp.110–112) Phillimore, Chichester, 1999
64. Salter, Mike The Castles of East Anglia (p.21) Folly Publications, Malvern, 2001
65. Pryor, Francis Flag Fen: Life and Death of a Prehistoric Landscape Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2005
66. Rhodes, John The Nene Valley Railway Turntable Publications, Sheffield, 1976
67. Obituary of George Eric Deacon Alcock Journal of the British Astronomical Association, February 2001
68. Erasure uncovered in Norwich BBC News, 10 February 2003
69. Voce, Steve Obituary of Gordon Douglas Lusher The Independent, 07 July 2006
70. Montalbano, Dan The city of Hereward the Wake The Independent, 31 August 2006
71. The Art Of Sound SoundClick (retrieved 24 April 2007)
72. Stoker, Richard 'Armstrong, Sir Thomas Henry Wait (1898-1994)' Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 (retrieved 24 April 2007) doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54713
73. Biography of Paul Nicholas The Internet Movie Database (retrieved 24 April 2007)
74. Inside out: Health Check - SARAH CAWOOD (Features) Liverpool Daily Post, 03 February 2004
75. Kirby, Terry Author in a Spot of Bother for 'horrible' view of Peterborough The Independent, 31 August 2006
76. The Barry Forgie Orchestra Vinylvulture (retrieved 24 April 2007)
77. Bibliography to December 1959 The Brian J. Ford Website (retrieved 24 April 2007)
78. Player Information for Matthew Etherington FootballDatabase (retrieved 24 April 2007)
79. Honorary degree awarded to Peter Boizot Loughborough University, 12 September 2000
80. Montalbano op. cit.
81. John Clare - Peterborough's Peasant Poet Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery (retrieved 24 April 2007)
82. Montalbano op. cit.
83. Town Twinning - International Links Peterborough City Council (retrieved 24 April 2007)

See also

• Soke of Peterborough
• Diocese of Peterborough
• Peterborough (UK Parliament constituency)
• Peterborough local elections
• Cambridgeshire
• East Anglia

External links

• Peterborough City Council
• Opportunity Peterborough
• Peterborough PCT
• Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust
• Peterborough Regional College
• Peterborough College of Adult Education
• Peterborough Today
• Peterborough Herald and Post

v t e Districts of the East of England
Bedfordshire	Bedford Central Bedfordshire Luton
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Hertfordshire	Broxbourne Dacorum East Hertfordshire Hertsmere North Hertfordshire St Albans Stevenage Three Rivers Watford Welwyn Hatfield
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Suffolk	Babergh East Suffolk Ipswich Mid Suffolk West Suffolk

v t e Regions of England
East of England East Midlands London North East North West South East South West West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber

52°35′N 0°15′W / 52.583°N 0.250°W / 52.583; -0.250

• Peterborough
• Cambridgeshire
• Cities in England
• New towns in the United Kingdom
• Unitary authorities in England
• Local government in Cambridgeshire