Welcome

Sir Henry Craik 1846-1927

By this alone, one is tempted to think, the voyage to India would be repaid.

‘Impressions of India’ (1908)

Welcome to Clay Lane

Clay Lane is inspired by textbooks written by NL Clay, used in English schools before the educational changes of the 1960s.

It is for people who appreciate our heritage of strong, plain-spoken English from Shakespeare and the King James Bible to Austen, Dickens and Kipling, and who enjoy playing with words, sentences and ideas.

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“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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The Blog

New and archive material, updated frequently. Passages for reading, brainteasers for solving, and music for listening.

Read English

The Copy Book

Browse hundreds of short passages from history, fiction, poetry and legend.

Write English

Think and Speak

Brainteasers for developing vocabulary, grammar and expression.

Ask your questions, and get personalised help with your English from me, Nicholas.

Play Games

Think and Speak

Puzzles with words and their letters, just for fun.

Read the Bible

Comfortable Words

The incomparable English of the King James Bible, the Prayer Book, and more.

From Left Holding the Baby

Shortly after this the train reached the Weybridge station, and on its stopping the lady, under the pretence of looking for her servant or carriage, requested her male fellow-passenger to hold the infant for a few minutes while she went to search for what she wanted. The bell rang for the starting of the train and the gentleman thus strangely left with the baby began to get rather fidgety, and anxious to return his charge to the mother.

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Confusables Find in Think and Speak

In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.

1. Chivalry. Civility. 2. Clamp. Cramp. 3. Council. Counsel. 4. Draw. Sketch. 5. Drop. Drip. 6. Explain. Express. 7. Hear. Attend. 8. Principal. Principle. 9. Their. They’re.

Free Speech and Conscience

Posts 23

Passages defending the right and obligation of every citizen to judge whatever is good and true, and to talk back to those who govern him.

Railways

Posts 37

Stories about the British transport revolution that changed the world, from the first locomotive and the first whistle to Flying Scotsman.

Abolition of Slavery

Posts 36

Heart-breaking tales of slavery, in which Britain played a shameful part; and heart-warming tales of Abolition, in which she played a courageous one.

Myths and Legends

Posts 124

Stories of wisdom, wonder and imagination from the Fables of Aesop and the epics of Homer to the folklore of India, Japan, Russia and Britain.

Bible and Saints

Posts 211

Passages of history, wonder and spiritual counsel, drawn from the Bible and from the lives of the saints and martyrs, with a special attention to those of the British isles.

Sport and Sportsmen

Posts 27

Stories from the world of cricket, football and other sports, and the men and women who have played them.

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