The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1387

Vatopedi Monastery, Mount Athos, Greece.

Stick and Carrot Clay Lane

The Virgin Mary and her son team up to get the best out of some careless monks.

Read

1388

© Wernervc, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Battle of the Somme Clay Lane

A British victory at tragic cost, in which both sides had to learn a new way of fighting.

Read

1389

© Adam Ward, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

‘My Shadow’ Robert Louis Stevenson

An enduringly popular poem by the author of ‘Treasure Island’.

Read

1390

© MEH Bergmann, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

The Fall of Constantinople Clay Lane

Hospitality and sympathy, but no help - the Byzantine Emperor learns a bitter lesson about western diplomacy.

Read

1391

© Bill Nicholls, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Cap o’ Rushes Clay Lane

A girl’s choice of words sees her turned out of hearth and home.

Read

1392

Photo by Capt J.L. Evans, No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit, via the Imperial War Museums and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: public domain.

The Normandy Landings Clay Lane

‘D-Day’ on 6th June, 1944, kicked off the Allied invasion of Europe and raised hopes of an end to the Second World War.

Read