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Lewes / Sussex accent

On 2 Nov 2011 at 3:11pm Incomer wrote:

Hello, I want to ask a question about the accent in Lewes, having moved here a few years ago from the north. I've always been interested in local accents.
Most people iN lewes under, say, 65, seem to have a generic 'estuary' accent or a generic 'well spoken' accent, depending on background
But some older people over 65 have a very different accent which sounds a lot more country, a lot more like the sort of accent you might get in the west country or parts of Norfolk, say.
Is this how everyone in Lewes/Sussex used to sound? When did everyone start sounding so much more like London? Why did it happen in such a proud county/town?

On 2 Nov 2011 at 3:22pm bastian wrote:

sussex is like a west country accent spoken as if you have a bubble in your throat as you speak. If you care to look up its dialect words some of them are fantastic. I know many people who have the accent who are older, but only a handful of youngsters have a little hidden in their tongue still. This is how it was spoken by yoeman and locals, not the landed sort though..

On 2 Nov 2011 at 6:19pm Dingo wrote:

"a little hidden in their tongues"what a beautiful poetic phrase Bastian !We could do with a lot more of that.

On 2 Nov 2011 at 6:23pm Southover Queen wrote:

I agree, Dingo. What a lovely expression!

On 2 Nov 2011 at 8:37pm Peter Pan wrote:

My Granfather and Granmother also my Mother,all had Foresters right's on Ashdown Forest and had wonderfull Sussex accents and almost there own language a little like Romany.As a child I grew up with this but suspect I have lost most of it now. My Grandfather was a 1WW veteran who's job it was to go out into no mans land at night and cut the wire for the next day's advance and bring back the dead he was shot twice and gased but still lived to over 100 and was the scorer for Hartfield Cricket Club well into the 90's When serving as a air raid warden during the 2 WW in Hartfield he captured a Pilot of a German bomber with a pitchfork and locked him in our outside toilet and stood guard untill the Home Guard collected him the next day They dont make them like that anymore

On 2 Nov 2011 at 8:51pm Roly Mo wrote:

My Grandad had a fantastic Sussex accent, and some of his children inherited it. I say the odd word such as "for-ed" intead of forehead, and "Sea-ford" instead of "Sea-fud". I do have a cousin who also has the accent. Sad that it's being lost in this area.

On 2 Nov 2011 at 11:51pm expat two wrote:

I went to school with a girl who had that gorgeous west country burr, but she was from Haywards Heath. I wanted to date her because of that accent thing, but I didn't because of that Haywards Heath thing.

On 3 Nov 2011 at 3:21pm bastian wrote:

thabk you my darlings, there is more to I than political rambling.

On 3 Nov 2011 at 3:22pm bastian wrote:

oops!....haven't drunk a drop..promise...got to go..need to fuse up in a thunder storm.

On 3 Nov 2011 at 7:30pm Sussex wrote:

I made a recording of my grandparents talking when I was a kid. I listened to it a few years ago and couldn't believe what strong Sussex accents they had!

On 4 Nov 2011 at 7:19pm bastian wrote:

I think it could be important to record the few accents left, particularly the young ones before it disappears for good. It is brilliant that you did that at the time.