Editor
nicholas@claylane.uk
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.
About Clay Lane
VIPs: Very Important Posts
In Quotations: What We Stand For
Materials for the study of good, correct, straightforward English.
Traditional, pre-Sixties methods and content.
Read interesting passages from history and literature.
Practise writing your own English sentences.
Ask for help if you need it.
“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)
“If ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ are to be more than catchwords,
clear communication must be the rule, and not the exception. Do
we want a society in which placid masses take their orders from
bosses? The alternative to government by force is government by
persuasion. The latter must mean that the governed can talk back
to the governors.”
NL Clay, Straightforward English (1949)
Post Box
: Get In Touch
New and archive material, updated frequently.
Passages for reading, brainteasers for solving, and music for listening.
Browse hundreds of short passages from history,
fiction, poetry and legend.
Brainteasers for developing vocabulary, grammar and expression.
Ask your questions, and get personalised help with your English
from me, Nicholas.
Puzzles with words and their letters, just for fun.
The incomparable English of the King James Bible,
the Prayer Book, and more.
From
The Best Man for the Job
By
John Bright
1811-1889
Dear Sir,
It seems impossible to say anything in public which will not be misunderstood and misrepresented.
I have no objection to working men as candidates. What I object to is that a candidate should be chosen only or mainly because he is a working man, and that I should be expected to vote for him for the same reason.
Read
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
1.
File.
2.
Cordial.
3.
Consort.
4.
Fritter.
5.
Flat.
6.
Hide.
7.
Graft.
8.
Fathom.
9.
Pass.
Show Suggestions
For each word above, choose one or more suitable
meanings from this list.
1.
Store a document away.
2.
A narrow route through the mountains.
3.
Level and smooth.
4.
The spouse of a monarch.
5.
Conceal; a hunter’s place of concealment.
6.
Corruption.
7.
Hard work.
8.
Warm and friendly.
9.
Understand, get to the bottom of.
10.
Move (out) in a line.
11.
A sweet fruit-flavoured drink.
12.
A depth of six feet.
13.
Complete, e.g. refusal, denial.
14.
Go by, overtake.
15.
A shoe without heels.
16.
An apartment in a building.
17.
Succeed in an examination.
18.
A deep-fried piece of food, such as broccoli or spam.
19.
A document on a computer.
20.
Transplant.
21.
A long, thin abrasive tool.
22.
A clumsy attempt to strike up a sexual relationship.
23.
Tough skin of an animal.
24.
Habitually spend time with.
25.
Spend (money, time) uselessly.
26.
A document allowing entrance or exit.
27.
A folder for papers.
28.
A board for stage scenery.
29.
Transfer to another, e.g. a parcel, a football.
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.
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.
Music and Musicians
Posts
64
The artistic struggles and triumphs of composers from the British Isles and abroad, many in their own words — and accompanied by their music.
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.
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.
The British Constitution
Posts
33
Passages examining Britain’s sometimes baffling constitutional monarchy, and telling the story of its enemies, its champions, and its reformers.
See All
