Looking back: 14 classic photos show how Peterborough looked in the 1980s

Earlier this week, the Peterborough Telegraph – in conjunction with Peterborough Images – published an article showcasing how our fine city looked in the first decades of the 1900s.

The images highlighted a tougher, more simplistic time, long before abstract concepts like ‘leisure time’ and ‘disposable income’ could even be conceived.

The decade we’re going to shine a light on this time around could well be described as the very opposite of that harsh era, when at at least everyone could take comfort from the fact they were ‘in it together.’

Characterised by aphorisms like “greed is good” and "dog eat dog”, the 1980s was a time when looking after number one became more important than maintaining the common good.

Credit was in, yet striking was out; home ownership was up yet job vacancies were way, way down.

In short, it was a decade of significant, swift and sometimes brutally traumatic change.

Change was afoot in our city, too. With grand new thoroughfares, sleek modernist buildings and vast shopping centres appearing seemingly from nowhere, Peterborough looked and felt like a city on the up.

This feeling of buoyant positivity was augmented by “The Peterborough Effect”, an ad campaign commissioned by Peterborough Development Corporation to promote the city and encourage people and firms to relocate here.

To some of our readers, the 1980s may not seem that long ago. Breakdancing, Rubik’s cubes, big hair, BMX bikes, shoulder pads, “loads-a-money” and VHS videos - surely it can’t be 40 years ago?

To our younger readers, the 1980s may as well be the 1880s. How did people manage without the internet? Without smartphones? Without social media?

Regardless of where you may fall within the generational spectrum, do yourself a favour: pull up a chair, put your feet up and take yourself back to the decade where everything changed.