The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bowman launches new Track Record
Broadcaster Edith Bowman has launched a new audio recording in collaboration with LNER trains, following research which revealed that more than two fifths of the public believe that traditional accents are declining.
The statistics from Fly Research revealed that many could not differentiate between regional accents, with 72% unable to tell the difference between those from Inverness and Glasgow or Edinburgh and Aberdeen and 28% unable to identify accents from Newcastle and Sunderland.
In the study of 2,000 participants, two thirds believed that people relocating to different parts of the country for work had largely contributed to the decline in regional accents.
Some 36% admitted that their own accents had also become weaker or more neutral with age.
In light of the statistics, LNER has collaborated with Edith to create its first audio recording, Track Record.
The track, written and directed by poet Ben Norris, features a variety of accents and dialects from more than 20 towns, cities and communities and includes the voices of LNER’s staff, local schoolchildren and residents.
Jennie Pitt, people engagement and corporate responsibility manager at LNER, said: “Wherever you’re from, we know how important your accent and local dialect are to you.
“In creating this unique audio journey, we want to ... preserve the diversity of accents in our communities.”
The audio recording will follow the path of the East Coast Main Line, starting in London and finishing in Inverness.
Edith said: “I am very passionate about preserving not just my own accent but all the unique accents we have in Great Britain.