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As an ancient cathedral city with an exciting, modern lifestyle Peterborough offers a rich mixture of history, activity and leisure for all ages and interests. Today, Peterborough is a thriving, dynamic business centre with a broadly based economy populated by people who believe that it is a great place to live and work.
The urban regeneration company (URC) for the city, is managing a billion pound transformation of Peterborough. With planned population growth of over 30 per cent between 2000 and 2020, and the influx of high skill jobs and the renaissance of the city centre,
Its vision for the future is that, by 2020, Peterborough will be recognised as a leading European city. It will be seen nationally and internationally as an example of successful and sustainable physical, economic and social regeneration.
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location
Peterborough is highly accessible by road and rail and benefits from fast commuting, both within the city and to other locations. Peterborough's location on the A1 (M) motorway and swift connections to trunk routes such as the A47 and A14 give easy access to the rest of the UK.
Peterborough is just 80 miles (128 km) from London and rail passengers can reach central London from Peterborough in just 50 minutes. There are rapid connections to major regional airports such as London Stansted, Luton and East Midlands (all just over an hour away)
A network of dual carriageway parkways serves the city. These divert high volumes of traffic away from the city centre and cut travel times across the city. Recent transport figures show that commuting traffic speed in Peterborough is 34.9 miles per hour compared with just 9.9 miles per hour in London.
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history
Around 43 AD the Romans established a fortress which grew into a substantial fortified town known as Durobrivae and became a major industrial centre for the production of pottery. In Saxon times Peterborough was chosen by Paeda, King of Mercia, as the site for a monastery in 654 AD.
Around 1070 local Saxon land owner Hereward the Wake made guerrilla raids on the Norman conquerors and co-operated with Viking raiders in attacking the monastery.
The Normans built a magnificent cathedral later became the burial place in 1536 of Katharine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII. It also provided a temporary tomb for Mary Queen of Scots, who was executed at nearby Fotheringhay in 1587 on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.
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After the Industrial Revolution Peterborough was transformed from market town to an industrial centre with the arrival of the steam railway in the 1840s. A century later half the city's working population was employed in manufacturing industries.
Another major change came in 1967 when a government-appointed New Town development corporation planned the construction of three new townships and the creation of thousands of new jobs in just 20 years, resulting in a rapid population growth to 155,000.
Today, Peterborough is a thriving, dynamic business centre with a broadly based economy populated by people who clearly believe that it is a great place to live and work. By 2020 it will be an internationally recognised European city.
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places of interest
Towering majestically above the city centre stands Peterborough Cathedral. The Norman cathedral - built on the site of a Saxon abbey - is famous for its stunning west front and its painted nave ceiling and contains the tomb of Katharine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII.
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery is a treasure house of the area's heritage with exhibits charting developments from Jurassic pre-history, through Roman and medieval eras to the 20th century.
Just outside the city is Flag Fen, the most important Bronze Age archaeological site in Europe and includes a modern visitor centre and museum. Nearby is Burghley House at Stamford, the finest Elizabethan stately home in England; Elton Hall, the ancestral home of the Proby family for over 350 years; Thorney Abbey and Heritage Museum; the birthplace of 'country poet' John Clare at Helpston, and Tolethorpe Hall where the Stamford Shakespeare Company perform in the outdoor amphitheatre during the summer months.
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entertainment
Entertainment is readily available in Peterborough, whether it is a night out at the theatre, the cinema or sampling the city’s selection of pubs and nightclubs offering high-octane music and dance entertainment into the early hours. There are also plenty of quiet restaurants providing peaceful, intimate dining locations.
The Key Theatre is Peterborough's major professional theatre, situated near to the city centre in the idyllic surroundings of the embankment of the River Nene.
The 1,100 seat Broadway entertainment and arts centre and The Cresset at Bretton maintain exciting programmes of stage performances from the classics to contemporary productions and from pantomime to stand-up comedy, together with a wide range of music concerts. The multi-screen Showcase Cinema offers all the latest movie releases.
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The East of England Showground is the eastern region's premier outdoor events centre and hosts a number of events throughout the year including Truckfest, The East of England Country Show, the British Motorcycle Federation Show (BMF) and the National Adventure Sports Show. During the summer months, the city also hosts the annual Peterborough Festival of art, music and drama, featuring a wide range of cultural activities for residents and visitors, and the Peterborough Beer Festival the second largest event of its kind in the country.
The East of England Showground is the eastern region's premier outdoor events centre and hosts a number of events throughout the year including Truckfest, The East of England Country Show, the British Motorcycle Federation Show (BMF) and the National Adventure Sports Show. During the summer months, the city also hosts the annual Peterborough Festival of art, music and drama, featuring a wide range of cultural activities for residents and visitors, and the Peterborough Beer Festival the second largest event of its kind in the country.
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sport & leisure
For sports enthusiasts there are a variety of professional teams to support and a range of sports to take part in. Sports fans can watch a variety teams including Coca-Cola football league club Peterborough United, who play at the London Road ground in the city centre, the speedway team, The Peterborough Panthers, who meet at the East of England showground, and the Peterborough Phantoms ice hockey team who play at Planet Ice.
Also on offer in the city is a greyhound stadium, an athletics stadium, a selection of public and private golf courses and one of the UK’s leading centres for rowing. Alternatively, visitors can enjoy more leisurely activities such as walking in one of the city’s parks. The 500-acre Ferry Meadows country park within the 2,000 acre Nene Park is a popular centre for an array of outdoor pursuits, including walking, cycling, sailing, fishing, bird watching, horse riding, camping and family picnics. The Nene Valley Railway is a major attraction for steam preservation enthusiasts.
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shopping
If you just love to shop, then Peterborough will fulfil your every need with modern shopping centres, traditional high street stores and old-style markets linked by landscaped pedestrian areas. The Queensgate Centre has over 90 stores, including John Lewis, Bhs, Marks & Spencer, Boots, Waitrose, Argos and Virgin Megastore, grouped around brightly lit, spacious malls and squares. Similarly the Rivergate Centre and Hereward Cross both contain a selection of stores and smaller specialist shops and restaurants. The city centre offers further shops from high street names to designer boutiques, and Peterborough Market offers a typically lively atmosphere and profusion of merchandise five days a week.The first stage of exciting plans to expand Peterborough city centre as part of the city council's £250 million masterplan have been unveiled proposing the creation of a new retail, leisure and entertainment hub at North Westgate.
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A new department store and a number of other stores are planned, further expanding the wide variety of shops in the city. A covered shopping street will link North Westgate to Queensgate shopping centre. Further a field the Serpentine Green shopping centre at the Hampton township on Peterborough's southern perimeter is also a major shopping attraction, featuring one of Britain's largest Tesco Extra store together with Boots, WH Smith, Gap, Holiday Hypermarket, Next and Outfit plus coffee shops and restaurants. Major refurbishment is currently under way at two other out-of-town centres at Bretton and Orton.
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education
Peterborough City Council is responsible for providing primary, secondary and special needs education with all secondary schools providing sixth form courses. Further education in the form of A-Levels, degree courses and vocational qualifications is available part and full-time at Peterborough Regional College which caters for around 15,000 students. PRC and Anglia Ruskin University have unveiled plans to build a £10 million higher education facility in the city to provide increased courses and facilities for degree-level students.
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