Ely ( cy, Trelái ''tref'', town + cy, Afon Elái,

River Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail ...

) is a district and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is to the north of

Cowbridge Road West Cowbridge Road West () is a major road in western Cardiff, the capital of Wales and forms part of the A48 road. It divides the districts of Ely and Caerau and connects inner Cardiff to Culverhouse Cross and eventually the M4 motorway via th ...

. Caerau defines the boundary to the south as does River Ely to the east and in part to the north.

The Roman era

In Roman times, Ely was the site of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

, near the old racecourse. There is also thought to have been a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

near the site linking to

Cardiff Roman Fort Cardiff Roman Fort was a coastal fort in the Roman province of Britannia Superior, of which Roman Wales was a part. Its original Latin name is uncertain. Its remains are incorporated into Cardiff Castle in the modern capital city of Wales. Na ...

and eastwards to Newport.

19th century

British Trolleybuses - Cardiff - geograph

In 1855, the first horse race took place at

Ely Racecourse Ely Racecourse was a horse racing venue in the Ely, Cardiff, Ely district of Cardiff, Wales. The racecourse opened in 1855, with the first race being held on 30 May. By 1864 racing at Ely was a regular event, the races that year were acclaimed as ...

, which took over from the Great Heath racecourse. The

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

map from the early 1880s shows just how isolated the ancient Ely village was from the rest of Cardiff. Reports about travelling along the main road over Ely Common to Cardiff talk of potholes and no shelter and a terrible journey on foot. Most of Ely was still farmland feeding Cardiff's population. A railway station had only recently been constructed, and this gave the surrounding area further potential for mass housing development. The 'Ely Industrial School' on

Cowbridge Road East Cowbridge Road East () is a major road in western-central Cardiff the capital of Wales. It is the principal road which passes through the busy district of Canton and connects Cowbridge Road West Cowbridge Road West () is a major road in w ...

was home to orphaned children originally from Cardiff. It had been set up to accommodate "

pauper Pauperism (Lat. ''pauper'', poor) is poverty or generally the state of being poor, or particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally ...

children" from 1863. It was very much a product of the

Victorian age In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

, and

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

mentality, increased social awareness and responsibility saw it closing in 1903 and converted to additional workhouse accommodation for adults (though never used for that purpose), known as Ely Lodge. The children lived in what became as Ely Homes. The school was demolished some years later and an

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

s isolation unit was built on the same site. The land was once owned by the

Earl of Plymouth Earl of Plymouth is a title that has been created three times: twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, one of the dozens of illegitimate ...

, who dictated that

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

may not be sold on the land. As a result, like other plots of land with similar conditions, the boundaries of the old estate can be approximated by the locations of

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s around the area. To attract business from nearby areas, establishments would be built as close to it as possible without actually being in Ely (local establishments are actually in Caerau and Fairwater).

20th and 21st centuries

Ely Fire Station, Cowbridge Road West, Cardiff

Ely's rapid expansion of housing began in the 1920s to provide 'homes fit for heroes' after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. This came with the construction of council houses to rehouse people from Cardiff's inner-city

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily ...

s. Ely Hospital was a large

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

which was the subject of abuse allegations in the 1960s. The subsequent enquiry led to reforms to mental health provision throughout the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. The hospital closed in 1996.

had its grandstand destroyed in a fire in 1937 and was then closed in 1939. The area is widely considered to be one of Cardiff's less desirable areas in terms of crime and standard of living. But the residents of Ely are keen to dispel this reputation, citing the fact it is a very large, close-knit community. The area was scarred by rioting and petrol bombing in September 1991 when shops and houses were vandalised and burnt by angry mobs in the Ely Petrol Riots, one of several waves of rioting around that time which occurred nationally and resulted in extensive damage and casualties. Some of the buildings targeted in Ely have since been demolished under more recent redevelopment projects. In June 1993, 45-year-old former steelworker Les Reed was beaten to death after he challenged a gang of youths on the estate after he and a friend witnessed them vandalising a bollard in the middle of a road. Three local youths were later found guilty of Mr Reed's murder and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

, and a fourth was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and received a lesser sentence. Mr Reed's friend, Phillip Tull, was also attacked but survived. After the trial in March 1994, it was revealed that three of the gang had previous convictions for violence, including one gang member who had a conviction for wounding against Mr Reed's teenage son Martin in 1991. Around this time, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' reported that unemployment on the estate stood at more than 30% (at least three times in the national average) and there was an ongoing problem with car crime and gang warfare.

Transport

Cowbridge Road West (the A48) is the predominant road running through Ely as it runs on to

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

and

Cardiff city centre Cardiff city centre ( cy, Canol Dinas Caerdydd) is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway st ...

to the east, and to

Culverhouse Cross Culverhouse Cross ( cy, Croes Cwrlwys) is a district straddling the boundary between Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the community of Wenvoe. The district is centred on a major traffic roundabout that links West Cardiff to the M4 mo ...

interchange to the west near the Western Cemetery. The parallel Grand Avenue links Cowbridge Road West to the northern estates of Ely. Ely is served by Cardiff Bus services 17 and 18 (

Capital City Red Capital City Red was the branding of bus services ''17'' and ''18'' in Cardiff. The route runs from the city centre to the west of the city, serving the Canton, Ely and Caerau districts. The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus netw ...

) which operate every 10 minutes from Wood Street in Cardiff city centre via

and Caerau. North Ely is also served by services 12 and 13 which terminate westbound at

and eastbound in

Tremorfa Tremorfa (Welsh for ''Tre'' town + ''morfa'' coastal marsh) is a district and (since 2016) community of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It falls into the Splott ward of Cardiff. Transport Tremorfa is served by the Cardiff Bus 11 route (was 61 for ...

. Cardiff Bus services 96, 101 and 102,

First Cymru First Cymru is an operator of bus services in South West Wales. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup with its headquarters in Swansea. History In 1987, South Wales Transport was sold during the privatisation of the National Bus Company in a man ...

service X2 and Easyway service 322 also serve the area. The nearest station is Waun-gron Park in Fairwater.

Ely railway station Ely railway station is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire. It is from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and stations on the Fen line to King's Lynn. It is an important junction for ...

, which closed in 1962, was on the

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

Electoral ward

Ely is both an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

, and a

of the

City of Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United King ...

. There is no

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. I ...

for the area. The

of Ely falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff West, and has been represented by Kevin Brennan MP, of the Labour Party, since

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

. It is bounded by Fairwater to the northwest; Caerau to the south (although some of Lower Ely is technically in the electoral ward of Caerau, as is Trelai (Ely) Park);

to the west; and the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

to the southwest. All three council seats are safely held by the Labour Party, with one of the long-term representatives being former Council leader,

Russell Goodway Russell Vivian Goodway (born 23 December 1955) is a Welsh Labour Party councillor for Ely, Cardiff; and the former Lord Mayor of Cardiff and former CEO of Cardiff Chamber of Commerce. He was Britain's youngest council leader when he led South G ...

, though in 2004 when Labour lost the Council to the Liberal Democrats, Goodway retained his seat by only 62 votes."Goodway: I've got my life back"
''Wales Online'', 17 June 2004. The Ely electoral ward consists of the area north of Cowbridge Road West, while the Caerau electoral ward consists of the area south of Cowbridge Road West. However, a misconception is Caerau being a subsection of the Ely area.

Notable people

* Steve Andrews, the "Bard of Ely"; singer-songwriter, writer and journalist *

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...

, pop singer of the 1980s * Steve Robinson,

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, th ...

boxer *

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his entire professional career for Manchester United and briefly served as ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and

footballer * Rosemary Joshua,

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

known for her performances in

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's operas *

Nicky Piper Nicky Piper Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 5 May 1966) is a retired Welsh super middleweight and light heavyweight Boxing, boxer from Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff. His career was at its peak in the 1990s; he became the Commonwealth Light- ...

, super-middleweight and light-heavyweight boxer *

Danielle Lineker Danielle Maria Bux (born 15 June 1979) is a Welsh actress and model. She made her modelling début in 1999 winning a place on the Miss Hawaiian Tropic beauty pageant in Las Vegas. She was married to former England footballer Gary Lineker from ...

, actress and model *

Rakie Ayola Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola (born May 1968) is a Welsh actress known for her work in theatre and television. Ayola has appeared in television shows including '' Black Mirror'', '' Noughts + Crosses'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Silent Witness'' and ''EastEn ...

, actress, raised in Ely

Amenities

Ely features several shopping parades. Two large supermarkets (

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

and

Farmfoods Farmfoods is a British frozen food and grocery supermarket chain based in Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is owned by Eric Herd, and has over three hundred shops in the United Kingdom, of which more than a hundred are in Scotland. History The compa ...

) are located just off

on nearby Treseder Way.

Tesco Express Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

and Vets4Pets are both on Cowbridge Road near the Western Leisure Centre. The area also has a large

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

store, Home Bargains, and a small

Lloyds Pharmacy LloydsPharmacy is a British pharmacy company. It has around 17,000 staff and dispenses over 150 million prescription items annually. It is owned by the Aurelius Group. It was formerly owned by the American McKesson Corporation. Overview The co ...

on Caerau Lane. Many small shops and local businesses are notably on Wilson Road and Grand Avenue; a

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...

store can be found on both streets, and other chain stores are in the Caerau ward such as B&Q.

Public houses

There are two pubs in the area, the Highfields Inn in Caerau and the Culverhouse on Cowbridge Road West. There are numerous social clubs, such as Ely Social and Sports Club (near Ely bridge), the Ely Royal Air Force Association (on Riverside Terrace in Lower Ely), Glamorgan Wanderers RFC Clubhouse (home of

Glamorgan Wanderers RFC Glamorgan Wanderers are a Welsh rugby union club based in Ely, west Cardiff in Wales. The club is located just to the north of Western Cemetery. They currently play in the WRU Admiral Championship. Glamorgan Wanderers began as the Old Mon ...

), and Cardiff West End Social Club (near the bottom of Wilson Road.) The Jasmine Enterprise Centre is next to the Fire Station on Cowbridge Road West.

Education

Primary Schools in Ely: * Windsor Clive Junior School on Grand Avenue * Herbert Thompson School on Plymouthwood Road * Hywel Dda Primary School on Cambria Road * Saint Fagans Church in Wales Primary School on Drope Road * Saint Francis RC Primary School on Wilson Road High Schools in Ely: *

Cardiff West Community High School Cardiff West Community High School is a secondary school in Ely, Cardiff, Wales, that teaches through the medium of English. Construction Cardiff West Community High School was built on the site of Glyn Derw High School. Although Glyn Derw ha ...

on Penally Road Youth Centres in Ely: *North Ely YC on Pethybridge Road *Dusty Forge Project on Cowbridge Road West

References

External links

OpenStreetMap map of the Ely area. Includes schools, pubs, etc.A Cardiff University insight into youth and rap culture in Elywww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Ely and surrounding area
{{Authority control Districts of Cardiff Communities in Cardiff