Looking Back: The pizza restaurant that was Peterborough's Wimpy in the 1970s

Pizza Express has been a feature of Peterborough’s Cathedral Square for more than a decade – but who remembers it as a Wimpy burger bar in the 1970s and 80s?
By Brad Barnes
Published 15th Feb 2024, 07:14 BST
Updated 15th Feb 2024, 11:05 BST
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The two photos show the same city centre building decades apart.

The first is from local historian Rita McKenzie, taken in the 1980s, and the latter from the PT archives, taken just a couple of years ago.

In between, you may recall, it was a Burger King.

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The same building in Cathedral Square, Peterborough, 50 years apart - a Wimpy around 1970 and now a Pizza Express.The same building in Cathedral Square, Peterborough, 50 years apart - a Wimpy around 1970 and now a Pizza Express.
The same building in Cathedral Square, Peterborough, 50 years apart - a Wimpy around 1970 and now a Pizza Express.

While the occupants might have changed, however, the distinctive front of the building has remained as eye-catching as ever.

Historic England describe it as the “half-timbered upper elevation of 8 Cathedral Square, built as a Boots store, with painted statues in niches flanking the upper floor windows.”

Dating from 1911 it was designed by Boots' in-house architect Michael Vyne Treleaven, it says at www.historicengland.org.uk.

Apparently, the statues on the facade depict Athelwold, King Peada of Mercia, Henry VIII, Prince Rupert and the Earl of Essex.

Related topics:PeterboroughPizza ExpressEnglandBurger KingBoots