Peterborough has been the butt of many jokes, more than a few of them deserved! But this city, about 30 minutes north of Cambridge, is at the heart of a region which has often been pivotal in the history of England, and deserves a second look.
 
Just off the centre of the city you will find the cathedral, the remains of the abbey 'dissolved' by Henry VIII. The cathedral itself is the burial place of Katherine of Aragon, and was the burial place of Mary Queen of Scots following her execution at nearby Fotheringhay.
 
Also close to the city centre you will find the Peterborough Museum, a little gem of which most inhabitants seem unaware (to their shame). Important exhibits here include a good prehistory section (Peterborough has yielded up a good many important fossil finds) and a superb collection of scrimshaw from the Napoleonic POW camp, which was sited at nearby Norman Cross.
 
A little further out, tucked away at the back of the Eastern Industrial Estate, is Flag Fen. This is probably the most important Bronze Age archeological site in Britain, and possibly Europe, and is now a noted specialist centre for conservation work on materials of the period.
 
Close by you will find the town of Stamford (location of Burghley House, built by William Cecil, adviser to Elizabeth I) and Huntingdon, where Oliver Cromwell was an MP; in fact Yaxley, a village on the outskirts of Peterborough, is mentioned in many history books on the English Civil War, due to the despoiling of the village church.