# Talk:Ely, Cambridgeshire

I am working my way through the Good articles listed at Places; having a quick look to see if they still meet the Good article criteria. I have landed on this article. After I've had a quick look, I'll leave a note here indicating if I have concerns or not.
In general, I see the process as this: 1) Give the article a quick look to see if there are obvious issues: maintenance tags, unsourced sections, excessive media, etc, resolving any minor issues as I do so; 2) If I have concerns, open a GAR to see how serious those concerns are, resolving them myself if they are not serious; 3) If during the GAR I feel that there is significant work to be done (more than I can or am willing to do myself), I will put the GAR on hold and notify the main contributors.
My aim and intention is to keep the article listed - I would rather the article was improved and kept listed than the article is delisted. Where a delisting seems likely due to the amount or nature of work needed being greater than I am able to do alone, and the main contributors are unavailable or unable for whatever reason to do the work, then appropriate WikiProjects will be notified at least seven days before a delisting would take place. SilkTork ✔Tea time 21:26, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

Captions are longer than recommended in WP:Captions, a GA criteria. SilkTork ✔Tea time 22:04, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
There are some short sub-sections and short paragraphs, which are discouraged per WP:Layout, a GA criteria. SilkTork ✔Tea time 22:12, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
Y Other than the two quibbles above, the article is presentable. The prose is clear and readable, the statements are richly cited to a range of good sources, and the information is dealt with in manageable sections, with nothing too detailed nor too brief. SilkTork ✔Tea time 22:17, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 5 external links on Ely, Cambridgeshire. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110629215430/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/cambridgedata.txt to http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/cambridgedata.txt
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110609152757/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C36C6418-DEFD-4ED1-B050-9984100DF110/0/HistCensusEastCambs0106.xls to http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C36C6418-DEFD-4ED1-B050-9984100DF110/0/HistCensusEastCambs0106.xls
Added archive http://www.webcitation.org/6Dus2kPHo?url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings/ to http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings/
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111114063325/http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/norfolk-history/35_ely_cathedral_1_214306 to http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/norfolk-history/35_ely_cathedral_1_214306
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100712021225/http://www.elycathedral.org:80/history/ship_of_the_fens.html to http://www.elycathedral.org/history/ship_of_the_fens.html
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Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 10 external links on Ely, Cambridgeshire. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf to http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111019070312/http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/east-cambs-district-council/council-profile to http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/east-cambs-district-council/council-profile
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf to http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf
Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320772950956
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf to http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf to http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120220021651/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8932742C-FF85-4CE5-B08D-2430C3E3D988/0/LTP06P3.pdf to http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8932742C-FF85-4CE5-B08D-2430C3E3D988/0/LTP06P3.pdf
Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.elycathedral.org/history/ship_of_the_fens.html
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080926173304/http://www.cubc.org.uk/rowing/facilities.html to http://www.cubc.org.uk/rowing/facilities.html
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110609152805/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2F0D5E30-F308-406B-9455-86B9EDDD50EC/0/soe98physical.pdf to http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2F0D5E30-F308-406B-9455-86B9EDDD50EC/0/soe98physical.pdf
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Hello there! I've just edited the name section to add what I've found recently, by looking at some of the local histories. I've spoken to the person referenced in source 10 on the main page, Mac Dowdy, and he's going to let me know if there are any better sources that he can find than the interview with him. While his work is still available, he is now registered blind, and it is thus quite hard for him to read his notes. 
I've been told that a lot of his work still lives at Cambridge University Architecture Department and the Cambridge university library. If anyone would like to help me with the saga of following up the Elysium claim, that would be most appreciated. I will be speaking with Mac further if anyone wishes for me to ask further questions.

Ta,
--Apparently j (talk) 17:17, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

The note "Ipsa vero Elye urbs est non-exigua, nec sua sane vel elegentia vel frequentia praedicanda, utpote ob uliginosum situm, coelo parum salubri" which Google translates as "The city is no small for Elias, nor the frequency of his or elegentia or, indeed, be preached, for instance because of wet site, wholesome little heaven". Is this Google translation useful to anyone?--Johnsoniensis (talk) 13:38, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Google translates it *slightly* better today, but I think the meaning is closer to "But Ely herself is not strictly a city, nor can her elegance nor crowds reasonably be proclaimed, for due to her marshy site, the airs are not very healthy." 86.26.33.25 (talk) 03:18, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Regarding: "Problems also remain, as pointed out by historian Mac Dowdy, as the word eel (or similar) did not exist at the time of the founding of Ely"
This is fairly obvious nonsense. Ely has seen human occupation since the neolithic but we have no idea what those people called it. But the city of Ely as we know it was created by the Anglo-Saxons who certainly did have a word for eel. See for example the entry for eel (n.) in the Online Etymological Dictionary: "Old English æl 'eel', from Proto-Germanic *ælaz." Jayarava (talk) 11:09, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

I am baffled by this sentence:

Defoe in 1774 described the Fens as "the sink of no less than thirteen Counties".

This is followed by a sentence quoting the report of a visit made "the same year" by John Wesley. However Daniel Defoe - the person the name is usually attached to - died in 1731, while Wesley was based in Oxford and did not begin his evangelistic tours of England until after his conversion later in the same decade. Is the quote from another writer or is the year misprinted?Cloptonson (talk) 16:58, 15 September 2025 (UTC)