1976: A major storm on this day did considerable damage to the cathedral; four pinnacles and half of the spire at the south-west corner were blown down. The repairs took four years, with four new pinnacles matching the damaged ones carved and placed into position and the damaged stonework at the base of the spire repaired. (Harper-Tee, John, 'The Peterborough Story', Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 1992)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
The world's oldest travel operator Thomas Cook, collapsed with the loss of more than 21,000 jobs worldwide including 1,000 in Peterborough. Thomas Cook had been trading for 178 years, but was put into compulsory liquidation on 23/09/19, after talks to save the company failed. Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's chief executive, said the firm's collapse was a "matter of profound regret".
The company’s collapse and the subsequent cancellation of flights led to the Government and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launching the biggest peacetime repatriation, code-named Operation Matterhorn, aimed at bringing more than 150,000 British holidaymakers home.
