When engineers powered the city to prosperity

Sadly, many of those firms have either disappeared or changed their city operations beyond recognition.

Hotpoint was one of those firms with a long history with Peterborough. The picture above was taken inside the motorshop in the Celta Road factory.

Hotpoint began life in the USA, the brainchild of Californian electric meter reader Earl Richardson. He invented a new electric iron based on an idea from his wife, who was having problems with pleats and frills. He invented an iron with the element down the whole length converging at the point -so it was hot at the point giving birth to what became an iconic name.

The third picture is of the Newall Engineering Company’s factory in Shrewsbury Avenue.

The company had a formidable reputation for engineering excellence and at its peak employed hundreds of people across its three city sites. It hit difficult times in the 70s and ceased all production in the city in 1984.

The final picture is of the assembly floor of the Redring factory – a sister company of Hotpoint –in Woodston.