To many Peterborians, the 1970s was perhaps the last real golden age of ‘old-school drinking’ in our fine city.
This was a time before large scale infrastructure projects changed the physical face of the city centre, and before shopping – driven by a new innovation called ‘credit’ – replaced boozing as the nation’s number one leisure activity.
As the years progressed and society’s habits changed, many of those stalwart local boozers that had stood for decades, inevitably dwindled and disappeared.
While this is of course sad from a heritage point of view, we should remember that we – unlike many other cities – are fortunate that Peterborough has seen a modest rise in the number of microbreweries and gastropubs opening across our region over the past few years.
Even so, it is clear that the city has lost a great deal of its pub-related legacy since those 1970s golden days.
With that in mind, we – along with our good friends at Peterborough Images – thought now would be a good time to remember some of the many boozers, some of which are now sadly lost forever – and some are still pouring a perfect pint.

5. Classic 1970s Peterborough pubs
The Durham Ox on Star Road Photo: Peterborough Images Archive

6. Classic 1970s Peterborough pubs
The Northfields pub on St Pauls Road. Photo: Peterborough Images Archive

7. Classic 1970s Peterborough pubs
The Westwood pub on Mayor's Walk Photo: Peterborough Images Archive

8. Classic 1970s Peterborough pubs
The City Arms on St John’s Street. Photo: Peterborough Images Archive

