Our new series, Suffolk Voices, was launched on Thursday December 17th.
Nick appeared on the Lesley Dolphin show on BBC Radio Suffolk at 2.00 pm, and our first "Suffolk Voice", Peggy Cole, joined us on the phone.
The Suffolk dialect has fascinated writers such as George Ewart-Evans and Adrian Bell and yet it is still routinely mangled by well-meaning thespians! They have a good excuse: although the Suffolk dialect is easy to find in print, quality sound recordings are virtually impossible to track down, unless you can navigate your way through professional archives. Suffolk Voices changes this, bringing authentic Suffolk speech to your CD player. Each disc is like a radio documentary, with music, sound and, of course, characters with whom you will love spending your time!
Our first Suffolk Voice belongs to Peggy Cole MBE, who became famous in the 1970s for her magnificent village garden. She later appeared in the film version of Ronald Blythe’s Akenfield and although she has given talks in America and on the QE2, Peggy is immensely proud that she still speaks the undiluted accent of her native Suffolk. With contributions from friend Peter Driver, BBC Radio Suffolk’s Lesley Dolphin and Akenfield author Ronald Blythe, we hear her extraordinary and often moving story told in the unique rhythm of the Suffolk dialect.
Suffolk Voices: Peggy Cole costs £6.99 including postage and packing. You can order it securely online below. Don't panic when you check out and are asked for your Paypal login. Simply select the "Don't have a paypal account" option which allows you to pay safely by credit card.
This CD can also be found in all good bookshops, including all branches of Waterstones in Suffolk (Bury, Ipswich, Lowestoft), as well as the leading bookshops of Woodbridge, Felixstowe, Southwold, Stowmarket, Halesworth and Aldeburgh, as well as Ipswich's Tourist Information Centre and the Framlingham second hand shop. All bookshops can order the CD for you: they just need to look up Suffolk Voices in the Nielsen catalogue.