I stepped back in time and visited Peterborough’s Queensgate Shopping Centre in the 1980s - here’s what I saw

The shopping centre opened in 1982

For those of us old enough to remember the decade, the 1980s was a strange ol’ time.

For many, the ‘80s will be remembered as a time of social unrest as Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government proved hugely unpopular with the working class.

With miners’ strikes, soaring unemployment and, of course, the Falklands War, the ‘80s was an incredibly tough decade for many families.

Others, meanwhile, associate the ‘80s with a boom in British culture, with bands such as The Smiths, New Order and Culture club constantly in the charts.

As you’d expect, Peterborough has changed quite a bit since the ‘80s, but once constant over the past 40 years has been the city’s Queensgate Shopping Centre.

With planning permission approved in 1976, the centre opened six years later.

Over the past 44 years, Queensgate has been at the heart of the city and is currently served by 90 stores.

We’ve had a dig through our archive and managed to find a few cracking photos of Queensgate during its first decade of operation.

So, sit back, relax and join us as we time travel back to Queensgate in the 1980s.

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