Looking back: check out these Peterborough sports teams, social clubs and hangout spots from the 1970s

It’s fair to say some of our younger readers (we’re looking at you ‘Gen-Zee’) may look back at the 1970s with a mixture of awe and disbelief.How on earth did people manage back then? How did they stay in touch when there were no mobile phones? How did they arrange meet-ups without any WhatsApp groups to call upon? How did they get through their sepia-tinged days without checking their ‘socials’?

Well, as unbelievable as it may seem, 1970s Peterborians didn’t just manage to survive without digital tech - they actually thrived.

Back then, when Blue Peter was screened in black and white, and music was stored on solid objects that could be physically owned (and worshipped), people were far more socially-minded, in a real-world sense, than they are now. Youth clubs, sports teams, works groups, dance clubs, music cliques and fan groups abounded. These weren’t virtual Facebook groups either; they were old-school, flesh-and-blood affairs.

Ask your parents or grandparents about those times and they may well get a bit misty-eyed about the youth club discos and the works’ group days out. Press them further and they might even go a bit giddy as they conjure up their dance recitals and think back to those heady Northern Soul nights.

Intrigued? Then why not join us for a trawl through the wonderful archived images on hand at Peterborough Images and see if you recognise any of the highly social young (and not so young) things enjoying their leisure time in and around Peterborough way back when?

And check out those flares!