Rupert Brooke 1887-1915

God! I will pack, and take a train,
And get me to England once again!
For England’s the one land, I know,
Where men with Splendid Hearts may go.

‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’ (1912)

Welcome to

Clay Lane

Straightforward English

English Literacy Inspired by the Vision of NL Clay

Clay Lane is a website for people who care deeply about the language and heritage of the English people, and who want to know more about them because they understand how important these things are for our future. It is inspired by textbooks written by Yorkshire schoolmaster NL Clay, and used in English schools and homes from the 1920s to the 1960s. Clay Lane is ideal for those who prefer traditional methods, traditional content, and the option of one-to-one human contact.

Read famous (and not so famous) passages from history, legend, biography, politics, poetry and fiction, and try your hand at exercises similar to those Clay gave to pupils in secondary schools before the educational changes of the 1960s. Use what you find here to improve your command of good, clear, correctly spelled and punctuated English, or just browse for pleasure.

Everything on Clay Lane is free to use. Share your creativity with me, and if you’d like a little help, just ask. See Email Support.

“The course should train pupils to observe, learn more of the world they live in, think clearly, use the imagination and to speak clearly.”

NL Clay, Think and Speak (1929)

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Blog Latest

November 5

A Great Writer

One author was a long way ahead at the top of Dostoevsky’s reading list.

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Clay Lane Blog

Stay informed about new posts, revisit posts from the Archive, try your hand at some brainteasers from the 1930s classroom, and listen to classical music.

About Clay Lane About NL Clay

The Copy Book

Hundreds of short passages of history, fiction and poetry from Britain and around the world, with study notes and brainteasers on grammar and vocabulary.

Authors Subjects

Think and Speak

Exercises in expression and imagination based on those given to pupils aged 12-13 in English schools in the 1930s.

Exercises Word Games

Comfortable Words

The King James Bible of 1611, a model of straightforward English made for reading aloud, with a selection of prayers and hymns.

Hymns KJV Bible Prayers

Word Games

A selection of games with words and their letters, including Crosswords, Polywords and the Honeycomb Game.

Add Vowels Honeycomb Polywords

The Tale of Years

Find Copy Book posts in chronological order, from the story of Abraham to Julius Caesar, and from Caratacus to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Featured Post

From If Russia Gives a Lead

It is easy to see, therefore, how it comes about that the Russian sense of the living Christ is essentially that which is realized by His Apostles and described in the New Testament. If Russia gives, as we pray she may, a lead to Christendom in the direction of unity, she will have a wonderfully uplifting and apostolic contribution to offer to the common stock of our Christian heritage.

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Featured Exercise

Homonyms Find in Think and Speak

Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.

1. Can. 2. Serve. 3. Brief. 4. Graze. 5. Object. 6. Copper. 7. Drive. 8. Hatch. 9. May.

Show Suggestions

For each word above, choose one or more suitable meanings from this list.

1. Fulfil the functions of. 2. Reward (especially negatively). 3. Instructions; give instructions. 4. A thing of any kind. 5. Strong determination. 6. Express opposition to something. 7. Short in time. 8. A mild abrasion. 9. An opening shot in tennis. 10. A trap-door, leading up or down, or from one room to another. 11. Operate a motor vehicle. 12. Eat grass. 13. A goal, one’s purpose. 14. Hand out, especially food. 15. Tin, of food or drink. 16. The hawthorn tree and its blossom. 17. A path for vehicles leading to a house. 18. (informal) fire from a job. 19. Push others forward with force. 20. A month of the year. 21. An informal term for a policeman. 22. Minister to. 23. Verb expressing the ability to do something. 24. Verb indicating possibility. 25. A reddish metal element; a large kettle made of it. 26. Emerge (as if) from an egg.

Featured Subjects

Poets and Poetry

Posts 58

Passages from English verse, from Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf to Shakespeare’s sonnets, Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, Kipling’s If and many more.

Discovery and Invention

Posts 115

Tales of scientific innovation and merchant enterprise, from steam power and life-saving medicines to new trade partners far away, and new ways to reach them.

France

Posts 25

Stories about our friends across the Channel, from Roman times to the Hundred Years’ War, her bloody Revolution, and the giddying rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon.

International Relations

Posts 41

Britain has always demanded respect, open seas, and to be left in peace to ‘work out our own salvation’ — a courtesy we should extend to others.

Extracts from Fiction

Posts 110

Romance, adventure and comedy from the very best fiction writers, including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, John Buchan, and many more.

India

Posts 89

Stories from the ancient and mighty civilisation of India, from classical mythology to the Mughal Emperors, the East India Company and the British Raj.

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