1940: Over 500 men between the ages of 20 and 23 registered for 'call-up' at the Peterborough Labour Exchange on this Saturday. Of these only five registered a conscientious objection. In the end 490 actually signed up. 64 with the Navy and 130 with the RAF. The rest offered no definite preference. Not surprisingly, bearing in mind the industrial landscape of Peterborough, there was more than the usual number of recruits who were in reserved occupations - mainly engineering. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
For some time during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the market place in Peterborough was known as Market Hill.
The earliest reference from the papers is an advert from 1736 for the letting of 'An old-accustom'd Grocer's Shop... situate upon the Market Hill in Peterborough'.
A reference to the Talbot Inn from 1774 states it is 'on the market hill'. This continued until an 1898 reference to J. A. Bingham, Auctioneer of Market Hill, Peterborough. Currently the area is known as Cathedral Square.
Cambridge and Chatteris still use the word hill for their market places. It certainly is an odd choice of word for towns in areas with little or no hills!
Source: Stamford Mercury, Thursday 5th August 1736, page 4, col 1