Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Slate industry in Wales

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[edit] Slate industry in Wales

Self-nomination. This is quite a new article, but I think it meets the Featured Article criteria. Rhion 13:26, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

• Commment This is actually quite good. But before I support a few things:

1. there are few wikilinks, many items could be linked but aren't, I fixed a few for you and note you only link the first occurrence, not all of them and that you link to the article title, not a redirect.
2. spell out abbreviations before you use them (ex: we don't what LNWR means), like "XYZ Airlines (XYZA)"...then you can use XYZA the next time. Rlevse 13:46, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you are right, there were quite a lot of other terms which could be linked. I have added another 45 or so links. I think I have also removed all the duplicate links, but it's quite hard to remember what has been linked and what hasn't. Also fixed the abbreviations. Rhion 14:51, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

• • Support Rlevse 02:14, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

• Comment: There is a curious jump in the opening paragraph: the first sentence is about the Romans quarrying slate; then the rest of the paragraph is about the industrial age, although there's no explicit indication that it's now talking about a different era. Inserting "By the nineteenth century"/"By the industry's heyday" or some such phrase at the start of that second sentence might be an idea. The first image caption begins with the sentence Slates were split using a hammer and chisel., which I think also needs augmenting with a context-setting phrase like "for centuries", "up until 19XX", or whatever works best.

I would welcome a brief explanation of the importance of slate to Welsh industry in general (historically the biggest industry, I should think, in the north, but nonexistent in the south, where coal was king) in the lead section. [talk to the] HAM 18:50, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Done, though feel free to rephrase if you think it is needed. I have also added a bit about the economic importance of the industry in the main article. Rhion 20:17, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Excellent work. A definite support, hoping for this to be the latest in a spate of Welsh-interest FAs. [talk to the] HAM 21:15, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

• Support with recent improvements this article is in good shape. My one request: let's find an image of an actual slate waggon, rather than a model of one. I say this despite the fact that I uploaded the image and its of one of my models :-) Gwernol 20:06, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I'll see if I can find something. I have one or two old photographs, but they don't show the wagons very clearly. Rhion 20:17, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Found one. Though it would be nice to have an image from the Ffestiniog Railway if anybody has one with no copyright problems. Rhion 14:41, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

• Comment. Not yet written to "professional" standard. The opening is a good example of why thorough copy-editing is required throughout.
  • The opening para says nothing of when the facts pertained (e.g., the peak of production—was it in Roman times?). We shouldn't have to go to the reference to find out.
  • "Slate duty" means "government duty on slate", I guess, or is it the "royalty" paid to landlords? If so, use the same term. I was thinking of forced labour by the locals.
  • You use "narrow-guage railways" but "slate producing areas"—decide on a uniform application of hyphens. Americans wouldn't hyphenate these, but UK writers would tend to.
  • At the top, we learn that slate was used in constructing rooves. No other uses?
  • Needs more referencing.
  • "a big reduction in the number of men employed"—add "in the industry". Tony 06:46, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

I have had the article copyedited again and put in the suggested changes, also added a few bits on usage of slate and other matters and added some more citations. Rhion 16:34, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

• Support Good article, nice pictures, etc. CRGreathouse (t | c) 03:28, 22 September 2006 (UTC)