1943: At the Magistrate's Court on this Wednesday a sad -  but far from unusual - case unfolded when 18-year-old Beryl Constance Grindley of no fixed address pleaded guilty to a charge of sleeping out on this day and not being able to give a good account of herself. The magistrates were told she had travelled from London to March, where she found work. However, she had absconded with some money and had later been fined 10s for travelling from March to Peterborough without a railway ticket. She had been found sleeping in an air-raid shelter at 1.30 a.m. and, having said she lived in a caravan in Westwood, was told to go home or risk being arrested as a disorderly and idle person. Two hours later she was still in the same shelter, now saying she lived in Wansford, which was too far to walk. Having reason to believe she had been sleeping rough in shelters for some weeks, she was arrested. Medical examination showed sores all over her arms and legs. Sentencing her to two months in prison, the chairman of the magistrates told her that while in custody she would be properly looked after. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.