Sunday 20 May 2012

A Place In The Sun


The mystic Isle Of Ely: low-lying, surrounded by marshland and swamp for much of the year, isolated and lonely beneath wild unruly skies. Where a dark breed of reticent, suspicious and self-reliant men eked a living, wild fowling or catching the eels that gave Ely its name.


Here the fiercely independent Etheldreda set up her monastery. Here the Danes came in the dead of night and sacked and destroyed the building. And Bishop Ethelwold defiantly rebuilt on a still grander scale. Stone was brought in by flat-bottomed boats and hauled up onto the riverside wharf.


When the rest of Albion's Isle fell to the invading Normans these men rose up and, under the command of the wily Hereward, fought back with daring raids and treacherous ambushes. The great Norman army was lured to destruction in the swampy darkness.


During the Middle Ages people travelled to St Audrey's Fair, tinkers, horse-traders, minstrels and ne'er-do-wells, to buy cheap trinkets and lace. The word tawdry, incidentally, derives from Saint Audrey.


In times past huge crowds gathered on the green in front of the cathedral to watch hangings and men burnt at the stake for heresy.


On the quayside foreign tongues could be heard as trading vessels from the Low Countries brought goods to the town and later as Dutch engineers came to drain the fens, much to the displeasure of the wildfowlers and reed gatherers who made their living from the wetlands.


In the nineteenth century displaced and starving agricultural workers gathered in the riverside pubs and planned the riots which took place in Ely and Littleport. A few weeks later in the Ely Courts men were condemned to death for their part in the unrest. Others were forced to join the chain gangs in Van Dieman's Land. 


During The Great War many men from the town marched away proudly only to perish in senseless battles in foreign lands. Their wives and children were left to mourn.


"When you look back tha's a funny old world and I sometimes can't make out how we got to where we're at"


Take care.





16 comments:

  1. Oh so nice to see the townsfolk at their normal doings.
    What memories well up of sitting on a bench sharing exquisite pork pies and cider with the best view of the cathedral. Freezing hands in the thin March sunshine. Every time we were in Cambridge, we always went on a pilgrimage to Ely where the priest would welcome visitors during mass.
    I am still amazed at the lightness of the late Gothic Lady Chapel and the delicacy of the headless (except for two) figures.

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  2. had to look at a map for Ely--nice to see the folks enjoying a pleasant day--

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  3. Great juxtapositions. The older man in the first photo certainly seems to fit the bill. An Eng. lit. student could find lots of symbolism in the pic of the two women paddling down the river in view of the caption. Hopefully the oboeist(if there is one)and the French horn player in the orchestra are not suffering too much agony. Lots of fun.

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  4. Masterful, John. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the narrative with the modern photos. Well done! Jim

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  5. Life is a little easier these days, John.

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  6. I would love to be sitting in that "place in the sun" .. what lovely captures John of everyday people enjoying the warmth amid the delightful surrounds of Ely.

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  7. You have mad nice points here. We obviously made ourselves a bit of a nuisance a millennium ago, but we received great help during the last war. You will find a lot of Anglophiles in Norway.

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  8. Hi there - thats a great range of pictures for one post. I like it.

    Stewart M - Australia

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  9. What a great post, John. The mix of words from the past with the photos of today...very neat! I really liked it!

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  10. Ely is a fascinating place isn't it - so full of history, I love the story of Hereward the Wake but one can only shout 'Hiss, Boo' to the monks of Ely who betrayed him. I hope that the story of Hereward eventually being pardoned is true.

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  11. Used to live in Shouldham so know Ely a little...they're different in those them parts.

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  12. Not much has changed then

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  13. This bit of history has me looking up information on the 'fens.'
    I'm not sure if there's a landscape here in the US which might look similar.

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  14. Brilliant matching of photos and words - you really are good at this. I so love reading your blogposts.

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  15. I enjoyed this post very much! I very much like your sense of humour. :)

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  16. What a great series! Love the fellow sitting eating his ice cream cone!

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