1941: On this day, 814 20-year-old city girls responded to their call-up papers - although some forgot their registration card! Many of the girls had come with their mothers, while others had their boyfriends for company. Some are described as arriving 'with an army escort on either side'. Quite a few perambulators are also recorded as being parked outside the building. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
Arthur Mellows was a Mayor of Peterborough. Born in 1896 he worked as a solicitor, but he was also an officer of the local Home Guard during the war. He was keen on improving education in the city and helped to make changes to the education system in Peterborough.
He was returning home from a day's shooting in October 1948 with his dog and a friend. As they reached the Conington Level Crossing his friend got out of the car to open the crossing gates. Mellows noticed a stationary train to the south, obviously waiting for a signal change. He started to drive across the crossing, keeping a keen watch on the train to the south. Unfortunately, in watching that train he completely failed to notice an oncoming train from the north. The train from the north hit his car killing both him and his dog. Conington Crossing was well known as an accident blackspot, and this was the second fatal accident in this year.
Arthur Mellows is commemorated by the secondary school in Glinton named after him, Arthur Mellows Village College. His dog is buried by the crossing.
Reference:
Haunted Peterborough, Orme,S. The History Press 2012
On 30 April 1945 a lorry taking German prisoners of war from Glatton camp to work on nearby farms crossed Conington Level Crossing in thick fog; in the very poor visibility it was hit side on by a railway engine. Six of the prisoners were killed and five more injured. To add to the tragedy a lorry carrying the injured away from the scene hit a bus in the fog badly injuring two more people. This level crossing was notorious as an accident black spot, combining a narrow road, limited view of the line and gates operated by the public.
References:
Haunted Peterborough, Orme, S. The History Press 2012
Opening on the 2nd of June 1845, Peterborough East was the first railway station in Peterborough, built by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). It linked Peterborough with the London and Birmingham Railway. It was located on Station Road just off the Town Bridge south of the River Nene. A section of the now defunct railway line to Northampton still survives as the Nene Valley Railway.
It was closed to passenger traffic in June 1966.
With the arrival of the railway a new age began for Peterborough, it was the catalyst for turning a small market town into the city we know today.
Marion Ann Lloyd Dunn was knocked down and killed whilst crossing the railway on Thorpe Road on 7th January 1881. There was a huge outcry at how dangerous the crossing was and a decision was made to create a subway to pass under the railway lines instead. It was finished in 1885 and was 284ft long and 10ft wide. It was lit by several ‘Steven’s patent burner lamps’, decorated inside with white glazed bricks (the same type of tiles used in the London Underground) and the floor was paved with Wilke's patent metallic flooring laid on Eureka concrete.
An 1888 map of Peterborough showed the location of Roman discoveries to the west of the East Coast mainline in what is now called Lime Kiln Close. The Roman artefacts were described as ‘Roman Coins, ornaments &c’ and were discovered between 1879 and 1885, presumably due to the creation of lime kilns on the site. A supposed Roman Road ran only a few metres west of the site and A few hundred metres away further Roman finds were discovered by the now listed Perkins Engines building on Westfield Road. A 1950 map declared Roman coins and pottery were discovered there in 1920 too, suggesting further Roman activity in the area.
Reference
OS County Series: Northamptonshire, 1888-1889, 1:10,560 accessed via old-maps.co.uk
On 30 April 1945 a lorry taking German prisoners of war from Glatton cam…
Opening on the 2nd of June 1845, Peterborough East was the first railway…
Marion Ann Lloyd Dunn was knocked down and killed whilst crossing the ra…