The ‘Thundering Smoke’ or Victoria Falls in Zambia.

© Joachim Huber, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Source

David Livingstone 1813-1873

It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.

‘Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa’ (1857)

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

October 13

A Most Successful Holiday

The best holidays are the ones that make us long for home.

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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 The Character of the Conqueror

Among other things is not to be forgotten the good peace that he made in this land; so that a man who was of any account might go over his realm, with his bosom full of gold, unhurt. Nor durst any manslay another man, had he done ever so great evil to the other.

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Featured Exercise

Opposites Find in Think and Speak

Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.

1. Appear. 2. Build. 3. Contented. 4. Creditor. 5. Great. 6. Lead. 7. Lit. 8. Take. 9. True.

Show Useful Words (A-Z order)

Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding in-.

Featured Subjects

Railways

Posts 37

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

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.

Greece

Posts 52

Tales about the cradle of Western civilisation, from Socrates and the first democracies to the fall of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman yoke, and Britain’s part in the fight for independence.

Liberty and Prosperity

Posts 169

Stories from Britain and elsewhere confirming the social and economic benefits of keeping politicians and their cronies out of the trade and business of ordinary people.

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.

America and the US

Posts 24

Tales from our cousins to the West, telling of their independence from Britain, their bloody civil war, their runaway prosperity, and the slender thread by which it hangs.

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