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Read brief tales well told, and solve little problems of grammar.

My great-uncle, N. L. Clay, was a Yorkshire schoolmaster whose textbooks on English language and literature were used in schools and homes across the country from the 1920s to the 1960s. He believed that mass media and entertainment were a danger to England’s enviable tradition of plain speaking and free thinking, and offered to help us reply to the talking heads and influencers in what he called ‘Straightforward English’.

Clay Lane is my way of carrying on his work. I’ve collected short, annotated extracts for you to read, from fiction and fable to poetry, biography, and eyewitness history, and crafted some little exercises in composition similar to those Clay gave to his pupils. The topics range widely, but the thread that runs through them all is his conviction that, as he put it back in 1949, “Tom Smith and his wife are better citizens if they have learned to value and practise straightforward English”.

Unlike my uncle, I’m not a teacher, and this isn’t a course or a tutoring service. I know very little about modern educational methods or grades; but I am a native speaker of English, and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have about what’s on my site. This and everything else on Clay Lane is completely free of charge. But I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee!

To leave a free private message, go to the Shop area, click on "Send me a private message", and follow the instructions. Don't forget to include your email address if you want a reply!

— Nicholas.