On Wednesday morning, I was woken by a thoroughly unexpected phone call from BBC Radio Stoke, who very kindly asked if I'd like to be interviewed about the Stokie accent on the breakfast show...in about twenty minutes' time. Naturally I jumped at the chance, though was conscious of my ridiculously gruff morning voice, and so made sure to neck a few glasses of water before they called back.
The discussion of the day had turned to accents, with the launch of some Stokie ringtones on the Moorland Pottery website. Locals called in with stories about being misunderstood, opinions about what a proper Stokie accent sounds like and general dialect anecdotes, and I was called in to contribute linguistic opinion (a really big honour!). It was a charming interview and I was asked some really interesting questions - whether I managed to answer them satisfactorily is another matter entirely. But I definitely had a good go!
The programme is available here for the next week, and I also have a sound file if anybody is vaguely interested! I appear from about 2hrs 10mins, and my little piece lasts for about ten minutes.
Hugest thanks to BBC Radio Stoke for having me on!
