Time to honour ‘the three wise men of Peterborough’

Thornton on Thursday column with Peterborough Telegraph's deputy editor Nigel Thornton - peterboroughtoday.co.uk

I didn’t want to start a new year by disagreeing with city council leader John Holdich, but, hey, why change the habits of a lifetime!

In John’s last PT column before Christmas he paid warm and heartfelt tributes to Lord Mawhinney and Wyndham Thomas.

These two giants of modern Peterborough sadly died within a few weeks of each other.

Lord Mawhinney served the city as an MP for many years and Mr Thomas was one of the founding fathers of the city as we know it today in his role with Peterborough Development Corporation.

In his column John said: “Both will be missed, but never forgotten.’’

But sadly, I think he is wrong, both will be forgotten by most.

Not by their friends and family but by the wider population of Peterborough who owe a huge debt of gratitude to these two men.

That is unless the city council makes a lasting memorial to the two men.

In fact make that three, it was little more than a year ago that we said a final farewell to another doyen of Peterborough society in the shape of entrepreneur and philanthropist Peter Boizot.

Mr Boizot put millions into the city with his support of the cathedral, his ownership of Posh and his redevelopment of the Broadway complex.

I am not suggesting for a minute that the three men were everybody’s cup of tea and all had their critics and even enemies.

But all undoubtably had the best interest of Peterborough at heart and all left a mark on its history.

I remember once having a conversation with Lord Mawhinney about the future development of the city. He said he would like to see at least one more bridge across the River Nene both to improve traffic flow but also to showcase the city in a way he felt the present bridges did not.

Of all the achievements of Wyndham Thomas and his team one of the greatest and most popular was the building of the bridge over the Nene near Orton Staunch, which was credited with transforming the city.

And Peterborough Civic Society, in calling for a footbridge to link Fletton Quays with the Embankment, has suggested it should be named in honour of Mr Boizot.

As you will gather there is a theme – not to mention a river – running through this.

A bridge incorporating permanent memorials to these three titans of the city would ensure they would not be forgotten.

So over to you, Cllr Holdich.