Looking Back: How the Peterborough Evening Telegraph marked the 100th anniversary of our city

Five decades ago, Peterborough celebrated a special anniversary – with the centenary marked since the city was incorporated as a municipal borough.

While officially a city since 1541, the move in 1874 saw commissioners who ran the city were replaced by an elected council initially comprising a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen councillors.

To mark the anniversary, The Peterborough Evening Telegraph (as it was known at the time) published a special supplement, looking back at the last 100 years.

That supplement was published on 20th March 1974 – and now, exactly 51 years later, we look back at that supplement.

Along with a potted history of the 100 years of the city, the supplement included pictures and adverts that celebrated the very best of Peterborough.

There was even a job advert for a postman – with a guaranteed wage of £27.81 per week!

The city also hosted a special festival to mark the 100 years – with glam rock band Wizzard – probably best known for festive smash ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ – performing, along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Peterborough – and the city’s local newspaper – has changed a great deal in the 50 years since the celebrations – and even more since those 1874 days, when Queen Victoria was still on the throne – so we turned back the clock to look back at what has changed in the past 51 years.