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.
Tower Mill in Eye was an imposing landmark, reaching seven storeys high and possessing an impressive eight sails, one of only a handful of mills to do so in the country. The tower mill was one of five windmills in Eye and was first recorded in a map in 1821, however an inscription suggests the mill might have dated to 1779. Archived images of the windmill reveal the steady decline from eight to six and then four sails. It went from a busy working mill and home, to a derelict tower without sails or cap. It saw its tower reduced over many years until it was finally demolished at the turn of the 21st century.
References:
https://catalogue.millsarchive.org/tower-mill-eye-peterborough
https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=497638
Image by Peter H from Pixabay