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.
“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)
Post Box : Get In Touch
New and archive material, updated frequently. Passages for reading, brainteasers for solving, and music for listening.
Latest • December 21
Latest • December 21
Latest • December 20
Post Box : Just ask for help
From Isabella Calls Time
In Paris Isabella saw Roger Mortimer, a nobleman who had been banished by Edward. This Mortimer became a great favourite of the queen, who was wicked enough to form a plot with him, that they might dethrone the king her husband. The assistance of the Count of Hainault was procured, through the promise of the queen that her son Edward should marry Philippa the count’s daughter; and with a band of armed men, supplied chiefly by the count, she landed in England.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
The words in this puzzle are taken randomly from a list of 927 common words. You can change e.g. cat → cats, go → went, quick → quickly.
1 O. Building. College.
2 Political. Present. Woman.
3 Any. Final. Grow.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
