The Copybook

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

1369

Imperial War Museums, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

‘Get Up!’ Joseph Skipsey

Joseph Skipsey’s short poem evokes the last goodbye a Northumberland miner made each morning.

Read

1370

From Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image.

The Pitman Poet Clay Lane

Joseph Skipsey taught himself to read and write by candlelight, hundreds of feet below ground in a Northumberland pit.

Read

1371

Photo by Jastrow, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Hera and the Boeotian Bride Clay Lane

Zeus employs a little psychology to effect a reunion with his offended wife.

Read

1372

© James E. Petts, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Stockton and Darlington Railway Clay Lane

The little County Durham line built by George Stephenson and his son Robert was the place where the world’s railway infrastructure really began.

Read

1373

© Andrew Curtis, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Hetton Railway Clay Lane

The railway earned a special place in history as the first to be designed for steam locomotives only.

Read

1374

© Karl and Ali, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Story of Pentecost Clay Lane

Jesus’s apostles receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, and the startling effects quickly draw a crowd.

Read