What's Peterborough like?

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annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Calling anyone who knows Peterborough.

I've a job interview in Peterborough next week. If I'm lucky enough to be offered the job I'll need to decide whether to up sticks and move from Northumberland to Peterborough. I've never even been there - just passed through on the train.

So what's it like? Is it a nice place to live? Does being close to London make it expensive?

It looks like a good place for cycling. What about public transport?

Is it a small friendly city or big and anonymous?

Would it be easy to find somewhere nice to live? Could I live in the countryside and easily commute into the city?

I expect there'll be as many opinions as there are replies but any advice will be helpful.

Thanks!!
 

ASC1951

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
So what's it like? Is it a nice place to live? Does being close to London make it expensive?
I've only passed through it, too, but I think you will find the countryside much softer and blander than Northumberland. The cycling will be drier, flatter and windier. And accommodation will certainly be more expensive than Blyth: average purchase/rental prices last year were £160,000/£638pm, compared with £107,000/£416pm for Blyth.

And to enable you to hold forth knowledgeably at the interview, here is a starter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterborough

Good luck with the interview. What is the job?
 

Tompy

Senior Member
Location
Peterborough
I moved to Peterborough 20+ years ago from Whitley Bay.

Peterborough is not a great place to live, it's just about OK. It's small, even compared to Newcastle which isn't that big a city in terms of population. When I moved here the locals were spectacurlarly unfriendly but these days you'd be hard pressed to define what a local is such has been the influx of migrant workers and people like me from other parts of the UK.

There are some nice places to live in and around the city, and some dodgy ones too, and some very nice villages to the South, West and North. There are also lovely market towns like Oundle and Stamford which are less than 10 miles away.

Commuting to work by car is excellent because of the dual carriageways everywhere - rush hour doesn't really even last an hour. Commuting by bike is easy as it's flat but the network of cycle paths leaves a lot to be desired - meandering and glass-strewn. Stick to the roads.

Shopping is as per any small city - the usual mix of high street shops and not much else.
Nightlife is pretty rubbish unless you want to spend all evening avoiding drunken Poles trying to start fights.
Culturally barren - one ageing multiplex, no proper theatre or concert venue. A local mindset that generally objects to paying for things.

Cycling is great if you stay clear of the fens.
 

Paul J

Guest
If you like the smell of the city tip as apposed to fresh air I suppose its nice place to live. It used to be full of Indians, now the East Europeans have taken over pretty much everything. I wouldn't live in Peterborough but I have worked for various companies there and never had a problem commuting.

Good luck with your interview.
 

Tompy

Senior Member
Location
Peterborough
If you like the smell of the city tip as apposed to fresh air I suppose its nice place to live. It used to be full of Indians, now the East Europeans have taken over pretty much everything. I wouldn't live in Peterborough but I have worked for various companies there and never had a problem commuting.

Good luck with your interview.

I've never smelled the tip other than when I've been there recycling. The smell of the old British Sugar factory when they were processing beet used to be horrendous - thank jebus that stopped.

There is a large Asian community, and a lot of East Europeans although the latter don't seem to all want to love in the same district. There is also a large Italian community but no one bats an eye at them - funny that.

Anyway, to the OP, coming from Blyth, Peterborough will seem like one of the finest places in the country. ^_^
 

asterix

Comrade Member
Location
Limoges or York
I moved to Peterborough 20+ years ago from Whitley Bay.

Peterborough is not a great place to live, it's just about OK. It's small, even compared to Newcastle which isn't that big a city in terms of population. When I moved here the locals were spectacurlarly unfriendly but these days you'd be hard pressed to define what a local is such has been the influx of migrant workers and people like me from other parts of the UK.

There are some nice places to live in and around the city, and some dodgy ones too, and some very nice villages to the South, West and North. There are also lovely market towns like Oundle and Stamford which are less than 10 miles away.

Commuting to work by car is excellent because of the dual carriageways everywhere - rush hour doesn't really even last an hour. Commuting by bike is easy as it's flat but the network of cycle paths leaves a lot to be desired - meandering and glass-strewn. Stick to the roads.

Shopping is as per any small city - the usual mix of high street shops and not much else.
Nightlife is pretty rubbish unless you want to spend all evening avoiding drunken Poles trying to start fights.
Culturally barren - one ageing multiplex, no proper theatre or concert venue. A local mindset that generally objects to paying for things.

Cycling is great if you stay clear of the fens.

Unfortunately that pretty much confirms what my brother said. He moved away last year after living there for 7 or 8 years and had previously lived in quite a few places. Some better some worse.
 

Paul J

Guest
I've never smelled the tip other than when I've been there recycling.

I worked at Perkins for about 6 months so coming from Wisbech direction it was the first thing I smelt going into Peterborough.
 
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annedonnelly

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Thanks all - sounds like living in the city isn't to be recommended.

The job is Biodiversity Information Assistant at the JNCC - lots of conservation stuff which I'd love to get involved in.
 

ASC1951

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
The job is Biodiversity Information Assistant at the JNCC - lots of conservation stuff which I'd love to get involved in.
Interesting work.:smile:

If you don't get it, I see that the JNCC could have you whale and bird watching in Aberdeen; or those nice people at Peritus Green have vacancies for ecologists and environmental bods in more desirable parts of the country like Yorkshire; or you could go and advise the RSPB in Oxfordshire on their Nature After Minerals programme; or Tim Moya Associates could have you whizzing all round the Midlands as a Post-development Ecological Adviser (provided you have a Bat Licence) ...

Blimey, it must be good these days to have skills which are actually in demand!
 
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annedonnelly

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Sadly I don't have any of those skills - just the enthusiasm. The Info Assistant role needs IT skills or data management skills which I do have so I could get into the wildlife sector and take it from there. Fingers crossed anyway.

As you say there are lots of exciting projects out there but also quite a lot of graduates with the right skills and flexibility to take on short-term contracts.
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
Hiya Anne.
Right, ive lived in Peterborough for 30 years, previously from Nottingham.
There's a lot of truth said in previous posts, there's also a lot of stuff that's years out of date.

Peterborough doesnt smell and hasnt for 15 years. The old sugar factory was bad, but that closed years ago. TBF, i dont venture much over the east of the city where the tip is, but ive never ever smelled it in the city itself.

It is a tad souless here. Not too bad, but i'd say typical of any 'new town' that Peterborough was 30years ago.
The city centre itself...its ok, all the majors and a still reasonably nice Queengate shopping centre, even though thats 30 years old now but you'd never know it. It is a compact city centre, you dont have to venture too far and you get into the less salubrious areas...but most of us never have to go there anyway..ever.

Living in Peterborough ? There are plenty of nice areas..to the west of the city is Orton Southgate, just on the edges of the A1 and the Showground. I live near there and can't say ive heard anything bad, looks quite nice for a modern development.

The Hamptons are new developments on the south of the City, looks really nice but it has a bad rep. Lots of private lets, considering its one of the newest developments in Peterborough, it really does have a bad reputation. Ironically, its all private, no council housing AFAIK...strange its got so bad so quick.
To the north east, there's Werrington, an older mixed development, ive never really heard anything bad about.
South, there4's the Brettons, some good, some older council developments.
Each of these urban developments have quite extensive shopping areas.

Living outside Peterborough ?
Stamfords been mentioned, 12 miles out, a nice old market town, quite up market.
The Deepings, about 8 miles out, a series of villages, quite bustling, but out of the way at the same time.
Any of the smaller villages to the west are nice, but being small, there's not much development.

The parkway circles the city, all dualled, but it does get busy at rush hour, particually at particular spots (ooer)...my old manager used to drive from the Deepings , round the city, to the Orton area ...at rush hour that circa 10 mile trip could take him an hour, usually less, but not quick. All other times of the day, its usually a quick route from one area to another.

Cycling ? Lots of nice choices...head north, you get into the countrside toward Stamford or the Deepings.. Head west and you strike out towards Northants, nice rolling countryside. I love it out there. Very little traffic, nice scenery, the world your oyster with some nice hills but nothing too arduous .
East from the city, theres a nice quiet cycleroute takes you to Whittlesea and beyond if you want.. More of an ambling route, but once you get to Whittlesea, you're on the edge of the fens....flat, featureless and bloomin windy.
Wherever you are in Peterborough, you're only ever 4 miles from nice countryside.

Its ok here. Took me a long long time to get used to it, but i always missed Nottingham.
I always think you're anonymous here, you have to work at socialising.
There are a LOT of east europeans here, but TBH unless you venture into the area of town they inhabit (generally) its no big deal. Drive down Lincoln Road (the older part of town)...you'd think you were in another country, Polish shops, east european eateries (not nice ones either), kebab shops all over the place etc etc...but most people just dont have to go down there any more, so its not really an issue.

The city centre used to be REALLY untidy, litter all over the place. Funnily enough, that all changed maybe 10 years ago...its really quite tidy now, the council have taken that really seriously, and good on em for that.

Its ok here...just ok. Not bad, not awe inspiring either.
 
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annedonnelly

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Wherever you are in Peterborough, you're only ever 4 miles from nice countryside.

Thanks gbb for your detailed answer. I do like the idea of being close to countryside - I can't get very excited about shopping centres.

All this info is really useful and will be a great help if I'm lucky enough to do well and be offered the job.
 
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