Repainting

Our village sign was looking rather faded so it is being refreshed. This young lady was sitting there this afternoon with the photos of the panels when they were originally painted (millennium year, I think) to get the colours right as they had faded back almost to bare wood. When she has finished the painting it will be varnished and it should look as good as new again. The sign has pictures on all four sides depicting the history and personalities of the village,. The panel she is working on shows Hope Brothers factory - originally making shirts and ending with Burberry raincoats. Above that is a scene of the Littleport Riots in 1816. At the bottom is a bright green eel and an eel spear - eels were the main industry before the fens were drained - Ely was on one of the few dry 'islands' - hence 'Eel Isle'. Until 1983 the parliamentary seat was 'The Isle of Ely', the last MP before the boundary and name change was Clement Freud.