Turning Peterborough into a ‘Bronze Age’ York and bringing in Time Team among plans to boost city tourism

The city can boast both ancient Bronze Age causeway Flag Fen, which was discovered by Time Team’s Francis Pryor, and remarkable discoveries made at the Must Farm quarry which it is hoped will be put on show in an extended section of Peterborough Museum, subject to funding.

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There are big ambitions among key stakeholders in Peterborough to boost tourism, and one idea being pursued is to try and convince Time Team to visit Flag Fen on the shortest day of the year (December 21) when it is hoped it can re-open for the first time since lockdown.

Another idea is to link the city’s cultural offerings so visitors get the complete experience of what Peterborough has to offer.

Pat Carrington, head of City Culture Peterborough, which has taken on arts, culture, heritage and library services in the city, told the Peterborough Telegraph in an exclusive interview: “If you go to York you get a pass and can go in everywhere.

“We want everything to be linked, so if you do see the Must Farm boats you go to Flag Fen to experience what Bronze Age life was like.

“Internationally and nationally, Flag Fen and the Must Farm boats are very well known. They’re on a lot of university agendas. But locally they’re not known quite so well.”

She added: “We’d like to open Flag Fen up on the shortest day of the year as that was the most important day for the Bronze Age settlement.”

Time Team saw Tony Robinson and a team of experts travel the country to investigate a wide range of archaeological sites of historical importance, and efforts are being made to persuade them to visit Flag Fen for its re-opening.

But that is just one of several ambitions for the historic attraction, according to Ms Carrington.

She continued: “Flag Fen I’m so excited about. I think the possibilities and potential are huge.

“We’ve been talking to English Heritage and they’re very keen to work closely with us.

“What I want is to go to another city, and when I say I’m from Peterborough people say ‘Flag Fen’.

“But it needs to be a space which suits families. At the moment there’s a lot of rich archaeological knowledge there, but in an area where people want to stay local outdoor space is the best place to be so how can we develop it like it used to be in the brochure where you’d see children running around dressed up?

“We should be running carol services from there where people can come and enjoy Flag Fen, have a hot chocolate, bring the family. Last year, they did a Halloween event there.

“So it’s about using that historical space, keeping it true for the archaeologists, but developing it as a location for local families.

“Francis is very much behind what we want to do at Flag Fen. We’re looking to put together a small project team to see how we push it academically but also more as a local visitor attraction.

“I’m keen to put events on and would love to do a Christmas event if it’s achievable.”

Another idea is to use land adjacent to the site to grow heritage crops. One idea is to cook bread and potentially sell it on.

Ms Carrington, who is also principal of City College Peterborough, suggested students could potentially get work experience there in areas such as horticulture and retail.

She said: “This would support Flag Fen and benefit people on courses who need work experience and are struggling to find it currently.”

The museum in Priestgate is scheduled to re-open on November 12, and if a £25 million bid for the Government’s Towns Fund is successful one of the projects is to build an extension which would house Must Farm longboats which are currently on display at Flag Fen.

But this is just one of the plans being progressed after meetings with local groups.

“We’ve asked local artists to submit work as we’d like to do a gallery on local artists. So far we’ve had 200-300 pieces of work offered to us,” Ms Carrington asid.

“One of the things the Friends of the Museum were telling me is they used to host classical music concerts which they sold tickets for.

“Another idea is can we deliver museum boxes to schools and send a member of staff? Going digital and delivering boxes to schools is being looked at.

“There are some great ideas out there. What we need to do is harness them to a strategy and a plan which is fully costed.”

Peterborough City Council leader Cllr John Holdich, who joined the PT and Ms Carrington for the interview, added: “One of the reasons we chose Hilton (as the hotel provider at the new Fletton Quays development) is to promote Peterborough internationally through their website.”

He said the aim is for a wider Cambridgeshire tourist package which would include information on visiting both Peterborough and Cambridge.

This is one of a five part interview with Pat Carrington on the future of cultural services in Peterborough. All articles will appear on the Peterborough Telegraph’s website at: https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/.