Ely London Train

Ely, in Cambridgeshire, is a cathedral city located roughly 15 miles to the north east of Cambridge. Construction of Ely Cathedral began in 1083 by the first Norman Bishop, Simeon. Construction of the cathedral continued until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 during the Reformation. Under the guidance of George Gilbert Scott the cathedral was restored between 1845 and 1870.

The city has two Sites of Special Scientific Interest: a former Kimmeridge Clay quarry and one of the United Kingdom's best remaining examples of medieval ridge and furrow agriculture. Agriculture remains the region's main economy but the city had been the centre of local pottery production from the 12th century to 1860.

There are just under 80 Grade I and Grade II listed buildings in Ely and include the Norman Ely Castle, St Mary's Vicarage and the Lamb Hotel.

Ely railway station lies on the Fen Line and is a major railway hub with the Cambridge to Ely section opening in 1845. Five major railway lines—excluding the former Ely and St Ives Railway—emanate from this hub: north to King's Lynn, north-west to Peterborough, east to Norwich, south-east to Ipswich and south to Cambridge and London. There are direct trains to Cambridge, London, most of East Anglia, the Midlands and the North. T here are connecting services to many other parts of England and to Scotland.

Located in the south east of England, London is divided into thirty two boroughs and is a vibrant, multicultural city. It is the largest city in the United Kingdom and also the largest city in the European Union and is regarded as an international capital of culture, music, education, fashion, politics, finance and trade.

The commercial capital was the City of London. This had a dense population and all the other pre-requisites of a medieval city: walls, a castle (The Tower of London), a cathedral (St Pauls), a semi-independent City government, a port and a bridge across which all trade was routed so Londoners could make money (London Bridge).

A few miles upstream was the government capital (Westminster). This had a church for crowning the monarch (Westminster Abbey) and palaces. As each palace was replaced by a larger one, the previous one was used for government, first the Palace of Westminster (better known as the Houses of Parliament), then Whitehall, then Buckingham Palace. The two were linked by a road called The "Strand", old English for riverbank.

The 'green lungs' of London are the many parks scattered throughout the city including Hyde Park, St James Park and Regent's Park. Most of the larger parks, such as Richmond Park, have their origins in royal estates and hunting grounds and are still owned by the Crown, despite their public access.