1941: Following a Ministry of Home Security circular on the carrying of gas masks, a Mrs Mellows organised four lectures aimed principally at housewives of active servicemen, on how to handle a gas situation. The second talk was held on this day. Each lecture covered: latest information about gas attacks; first aid for gas casualties; how to protect yourself and dealing with incendiary bombs and fires. All lectures were very well attended. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
In 1013 King Sweyn of Denmark, also known as Sweyn Forkbeard, was reported to have arrived in the area north of Peterborough. He had been at war with the country for the last twenty years and devised horrendously painful and humiliating deaths for some of his victims. Unsurprisingly, when he arrived in this area, he destroyed seven villages to the north of Peterborough and murdered or captured all of the inhabitants. The villages were Northborough, Maxey, Bainton, Helpston, Etton, Glinton and Maxey. Thankfully he died in Gainsborough in 1014 after being declared King for only 40 days, and the villages and places of worship were quickly restored.
References
A Lumley Prior, Heroes and Villains, Village Tribune, Issue 98 East, 2016, p 30-31 https://issuu.com/dimension6000/docs/vt_98_east_web
D. McKenna, Sweyn Forkbeard: England's Forgotten Viking King, BBC News, 2013, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire