Charlesdrakew

Undo of change to page about Sutton, London

Hello, Charles.

You've just undone a change made to the Sutton, London page by Sharp910sh, with the comment "Rv unencyclopedic details". Can I ask you to explain what was wrong with Sharp910sh's revision?

Note that I also initially looked at the changes made by Sharp910sh with suspicion, but on reviewing the changes I realised that the old text is out of date, and after some research I found that the information provided by Sharp910sh is correct, and there was a reference provided to support the change of office location.

Is there something inappropriate with Sharp910sh's change that I've failed to spot? --Bob (talk) 13:21, 6 June 2020 (UTC)

Adoption

Hi Are You Still Looking For Adoptees? KoalaLou9 (talk) 12:39, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Sorry no. I have very limited time at present.Charles (talk) 10:38, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

Adopt a mathematician

Hi Charlesdrakew, I am currently looking for an Adopter which would lead me; I want to become an editor. Would you be willing to help me? Thank you. Skeptos (talk) 13:45, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Yes Skeptos. I am no mathematician but happy to help on any general matters re. editing.Charles (talk) 10:40, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

about reference in Lewes

Hi Can you help me understand in page Lewes how the reference about "mentioning there too many taxis in town that Council is not taking any new taxi license applications for a new driver or vehicle licenses" is not from secondary and tertiary sources WP:PSTS and as you have said spam. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nowusername (talk • contribs) 09:15, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Spam may be a little harsh but Wikipedia is not a travel guide and the operation of taxi services is not notable content for an encyclopedia. It is also recentism in an article about a town with a very long history. Happy editing.Charles (talk) 09:26, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for explaining it and have understood, As "Council is not taking any new taxi license applications for a new driver or vehicle licenses" saw that point mentioned on the site and that information could be useful to Wiki readers and this site had been referred in 1space.eastsussex.gov.uk/Services( did not put the complete link) therefore referred from secondary and tertiary sources. Nowusername (talk) 09:40, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Stane Street

Hi Charles,

I'm not sure if you remember, but about ten years ago, we interacted when I was making some edits to Stane Street (Chichester). Recently I've been expanding that article with the help of papers published in the journal Surrey Archaeological Collections, which are now available for free online. One of the major changes that I have made is to remove discussion of the 'limbs' proposed by Belloc, as this terminology is not used by archaeologists today.

I was wondering if I could ask you to take a look at the article as it currently stands and let me know if you spot any glaring errors? I'm very much a 'Surrey man' and my personal knowledge of the route is pretty hazy south of Billingshurst, but I understand that you know that area fairly well. It would be great if you could bring your perspective and, if you would like to, perhaps assess the article for WP:Sussex? (My feeling is that it is at least C class, but may not yet be up to B class standard.)

Thanks and best wishes Mertbiol (talk) 19:33, 19 October 2020 (UTC)

It will be good to have it updated. I will look through it and get back to you.Charles (talk) 21:14, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Charles, it would be great to get your feedback. A member of WikiProject Archaeology looked through the article and kindly assessed it as B class. Thanks and best wishes Mertbiol (talk) 15:02, 15 November 2020 (UTC)

I don't think there is any point in linking to Goodwood Racecourse. Geographically it is The Trundle and is not part of the South Downs escarpment but rather an outlying hill. It is to the west of a direct route. As far as I can tell a straight line route would pass between the Trundle and Halnaker Hill, which would not be any steeper than the route taken. The only way to avoid the escarpment would have been to go through the Arun river gap, possible but adding a few miles. A direct line would cross the escarpment at Duncton, as the modern A285 road does. That is actually 50 metres lower than at Bignor, but requires a second climb of 50 metres at Upwaltham. The brilliance of the actual route never ceases to impress me, going from Pulborough to Chichester, climbing the Downs and barely deviating from a straight line in doing so. I will alter the text when I have time and see if you agree.Charles (talk) 22:38, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi Charles, thanks for your comments. I would agree that the direct line passes almost halfway between The Trundle and Halnaker Hill (which takes it immediately to the east of Goodwood House). I think my original intention was to use the phrase ‘near Goodwood Racecourse’ to describe this general area for non-locals. I don’t agree that this implies that the direct alignment passes over/through The Trundle (not somewhere I’d heard of until I read your comment). However I can appreciate that my use of ‘near Goodwood Racecourse’ does not give the necessary precision.

I have checked Margary’s book and he does make explicit reference to the direct line requiring “awkward crossings of the Leith Hill range and the South Downs escarpment” (p48), so I think it is right to mention this in the relevant section of the article. Checking my maps it would appear that the Bignor summit and the high point over the direct route near East Lavington are approximately the same height (around 210 m), but the East Lavington descent would be three times steeper.

With that in mind could I propose the following rewording?

The direct line from London Bridge to Chichester passes over the North Downs at Ranmore (200 m above Ordnance Datum) and the Greensand Ridge at Holmbury St Mary (260 m OD). The steep gradients which would have been required if the road had followed a direct line would not have been practical for wheeled traffic and so the Roman engineers designed the road to cross the North Downs by natural breach cut by the River Mole and to pass to the east of the high ground of Leith Hill. The geology of the region was also considered and the road leaves the direct line at Ewell to move onto the well-drained chalk of the North Downs, in preference to remaining on the London Clay. The road is able to make a more gentle ascent of the South Downs escarpment at Bignor than was possible East Lavington and the chosen route avoids the need for the road to cross the steep-sided River Lavant valley at East Dean.

Please let me know your thoughts. Mertbiol (talk) 17:43, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

Yes I am happy with that.Charles (talk) 18:15, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Charles. I have made the change. Mertbiol (talk) 18:32, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) – can I just say, Charlesdrakew and Mertbiol, that this is bl**dy marvellous? Both the rather wonderful article and the quality of the interaction/cooperation>development? Every so often I get so fed up with this encyclopaedia that I think it's probably pointless to continue, and then something like this comes along and I just think, actually, yes, great. Well done. I will now return to sulky silence but, seriously, this is great stuff all round. Cheers DBaK (talk) 18:53, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

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Translating an article

Hey Charles. Some time ago I requested for adoption but you were quite busy and the time and suggested me to ask for help when needed, so here am I. I was requested this article Isabelle de Charrière for translation into Bengali and Hindi as I can read and write fluently in both the languages. However I do not know how to link these pages to the original English article once I have translated the text and created the pages in the Bengali and Hindi Wikipedias respectively. Could you possibly help me? Yours DishitaBhowmik 15:08, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Sorry. I can not remember how to do that. The people at the Teahouse will soon tell you.Charles (talk) 22:18, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank You so much! I enquired at the Teahouse and was rendered welcome help. Also, would you please sign my contactbook? DishitaBhowmik 04:11, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Life is short

.. and may be shorter in the future the way humanity behaves, so while I have a chance I would like to thank you for all you did in my early days and since. Although I cannot repay you directly it made me aware of the importance of greetings which I have tried repay by giving more recent newbies welcome even if I am biased at the start to registered users rather than IPs. I am greatly encouraged by such wonderful work and detailed GA reviewing as I have recently seen in the Stane Street (Chichester) article and several where KJP1 has been involved. I trust your less frequent edits here are due to your focusing your energies on global warming or enjoyment of real life. Best wishes for 2021.SovalValtos (talk) 00:19, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

You repay me many times over by being here. It is a great reassurance that you are here doing what is often thankless but such important work, maintaining and improving this great source of free unbiased information. It seems more important than ever in this time of fake news. I did a lot of work on Stane Street many years ago, and created articles on the other Roman roads of Sussex and Surrey. Thank you for thinking of me as we approach another uncertain year. As you say I have been spending a lot of time working for a cleaner greener future with the awesome group that is Extinction Rebellion Godalming.

New message from DisillusionedBitterAndKnackered

Hello, Charlesdrakew. You have new messages at Talk:Shoreham Redoubt.
Message added 14:29, 3 March 2021 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Hi Charles, long time, hope you are well. The above issue came up and I can see that you were involved some time ago and indeed set up the Fort > Redoubt redirect. Please feel free to pop in and share some wisdom! Cheers, DBaK (talk) 14:29, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! DBaK (talk) 09:43, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

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Quiet

Dear Charles, you seem to have gone a bit quiet. I was hoping that you are OK. Of course I recognize that none of us is under contract to participate here and there is allegedly this thing called Real Life out there somewhere, so I am not here to harass, but just politely enquire. With all good wishes, DBaK (talk) 15:12, 13 March 2022 (UTC)

• Hi DBaK. Thank you for your concern. Yes I am absolutely fine thank you, and have even managed to avoid covid so far. I joined Extinction Rebellion in 2019 after seeing the April 19 London actions (pink boat in Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge planted with trees etc.) and the movement now takes up a lot of my time. Chaos does not organise itself! I figure that while having a free and uncensored encyclopedia is important, having a habitable planet for my grandchildren and the rest of humanity is more important. As a bonus I get to meet a lot of really nice people.Charles (talk) 21:16, 13 March 2022 (UTC)
  • Wow, amazing. I am beyond impressed! I am just rushing off somewhere for a week but will write more when I am back. Gosh, well done you, and thank you. DBaK (talk) 00:14, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Louise

I thought this [1] might be useful if you were not yet aware of it.SovalValtos (talk) 22:33, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

• THanks SV. Yes, I spent last evening sitting in Guildford police station reading a book, ready to support any of three protestors there if they were released. With food, tea, lifts home. They were not released. https://www.facebook.com/JustStopOil/videos/1274656363097610 Moving video of Louise.

Update on Louise. Her song "We Tried" made it to number 4 on Global Chart for Christmas, and astonishlingly was then censored from the Top 40 Countdown.There was only a brief mention in the top ten recap. This is what humanity is up against.Charles (talk) 19:28, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

It looks like Wikipedia should have an article on Louise Harris. A minor problem is that some potentially useful sources only refer to her as 'Louise', without giving her surname.SovalValtos (talk) 22:48, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

I have published an article for review [2] with the serious fault of it being under a title that is a duplicate of an existing one. Could someone help change it as I do not know how?SovalValtos (talk) 00:35, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

Collaboration has worked as far as, but no further than, getting just a cleaned up Wikipedia article with an acceptable name.SovalValtos (talk) 09:12, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

I have put a shout out to see if anyone has photos they are willing to donate to Wikimedia, and I will keep a lookout for sources.Charles (talk) 10:15, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Toby Roberts

I hope all is well with you. I understand you have important occupations in real life but I am being bold in asking if you could help with the first ever article I have published. I should do better at more than simple referencing, but am not, and when it comes to using named references as the article develops I will have difficulty. Best wishes.SovalValtos (talk) 13:53, 30 October 2023 (UTC)

I underestimated the editorial involvement the article would attract so it looks like it will evolve without doing more. There is still a need for a wise young owl such as yourself, so please consider getting back into action somewhere.SovalValtos (talk) 13:41, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I am pleased to see collaboration in action taking the article forward. I am fine thanks for asking. I would like to get back into some editing, if only anti-vandalism, but I don't seem to have any time now.Charles (talk) 19:47, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Brighton meetup

Hi Charles, as you expressed an interest in the first one a few years ago, I thought you might be interested in a meetup in Brighton on 3 February 2024. Best, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 11:47, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for the invite, but I am too busy to be involved now.Charles (talk) 19:11, 27 December 2023 (UTC)