 |  |
 | |
| |  | Leslie Snell
Born: 4 June 1946
Lives: Edwardstone, Suffolk
Time lived in area: All my life
|
Les recalls his grandfather's practical skills in the days when the village was a self-sufficient community.
Language of interview: English
Duration: 01.25 (mins/secs)
The participants were asked to describe how they spoke in their own words.
How do you describe your accent: "Suffolk."
Have there been other influences on the way you speak: Not Given
Do you have skills in languages other than English?: No
Other languages: None
LESLIE: My grandfather, he put new handles in shovels, he sharpened picks. He used to sharpen scythes and put the sh - handles on scythes. INTERVIEWER: Make nails? LESLIE: He used to put the wheels, you know the metal rim on the wheel, he used to do that and that used to be, when we wus kids at school that used to be our Sunday morn, Saturday mornen treat. Bloody great bonfire down the bottom in his farmyard, and there'd be five or six metal wheels what he'd made on there. Get 'em right hot, take em off, put 'em on the wooden wheels what go on the carts. And then me brothers used to run round with a wateren can coolen em off as me father and me oncle were knocken em on. When they were on, put the nails in em, stood em up, the next won 'd go on, they'd keep em all for a Sunday mornen. And there used to be a wheelwright in Great Waldingfield by th'name of Leaks. They used to make the wheels, they used to bring em from there down to the blacksmith to hev the tyres put on an thass how they used to work t'gither there and everybody in the village worked t'gether and a village wus a village. But now, what ye got? Most - this village here, thass got the pub thass all en 'et? Boxford down the road is about the only village wos got a post office, a butchers, a general stores, a paper shop and two pubs in 'et, en 'ut? Thass about the only place you can call a village now. Everywhere else has lost everything. OTHER GROUP MEMBER: And it's got a school. LESLIE: And it's got a school, yeah. But once upon a time villages used to keep therself gorn dint they, cos they all had builders, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, they hed the lot.
|  | Also on Voices:Where I live:British Library's Collect Britain: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. |  |
 | What do you think about your local accent? | |
|
|
|
