Talk:Ely

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'mealy' is not a well-known word, so many people will not know how to pronounce it. I suggest a replacement rhyme.

Contents 1 Population data 2 Isle of Ely 3 City status 4 Amendment needed

[edit] Population data

Just updated the population figure in the text from the 1994 County Council estimate to the 2001 Census data. There is a more recent 2004 estimate (15,630), but it seems preferable to use the 2001 Census data... -- Sjb90 30 June 2005 17:28 (UTC)

[edit] Isle of Ely

"It is the main city in the Isle of Ely." -- excuse my ignorance here as I know little about the historical background of the Isle of Ely... However, as I understand it from this article, the Isle of Ely as an administrative area hasn't existed since 1965. In addition, the council website suggests that, before 1965, Ely did not have city status. I'm unaware (but quite possibly just ignorant) of other cities that were within the Isle of Ely region -- so is it helpful for us to say that Ely is "the main city in the Isle of Ely"? I'm tempted to remove this sentence entirely, but thought it a good idea to check whether anyone has any comments first... -- Sjb90 30 June 2005 23:24 (UTC)

Re. - I think it may refer to how Ely was part of an island chain, or so I recall from viewing a map of the area when it was flooded. -- Norminator 20:51, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] City status

There was conflicting information in Wikipedia about Ely's city status, so I have checked this with the city council. For the record, below is a copy of my query, and the response from the clerk to the city council. The article is now updated with this information.

Email to city council

Hello there,

I'm trying to find up-to-date information on Ely's historical status as a city, in order to ensure accuracy of information for the popular online encyclopaedia Wikipedia [1]. The City council website seems to suggest that city status was officially conferred on Ely at the time of local government reorganisation in 1974. However, other sources [2] suggest that Ely was regarded as a city before legal memory began (i.e. "since time immemorial"), and so did not require its status to be confirmed by Royal charter.

Would it be possible for someone to outline to me the historical basis for Ely's status as a city, please? This is partly just out of interest, and partly to ensure that the Wikipedia is not giving misleading information. Any advice that you can give me would be appreciated!

Reply from city council

Dear Dr Bell

I have spoken to one of my councilors who is a local historian and he has confirmed that both of your statements are correct. It was generally accepted that Ely was a city because it had a cathedral, but it was not until 1974 when the Queen gave us permission to be called a City.

Hope this helps.

<name removed>

Clerk to the Council

[edit] Amendment needed

"Local celebrities such as Peter Newman and Luke Gimblett can often be seen shopping in Ely's exclusive cloisters district."

This needs either deleting or a citation being put in - I think it may have originally been inserted as a joke. The Cloisters is hardly an 'exclusive district', and several google searches have failed to throw up anything more than this page in regards to Peter Newman or Luke Gimblett's identities or claimed celebrity status. - Norminator (talk) 19:03, 19 December 2007 (UTC)