Everything changes - even the way we speak here in West Yorkshire. As part of Voices2005 we took a virtual trip around our website and listened to how people used to speak and how they speak now. Join us - you might be in for a surprise!
As long ago as 1922 and in far away London BBC radio first took to the air. BBC announcers used an English that was deliberately neutral - supposedly accent-free and definitely no dialect speakers wanted.
When war broke out in September 1939 the BBC found itself with a new role as the country's voice to the outside world. Suddenly it was important that announcers' voices were easily recognisable and West Yorkshire's very own Wilfred Pickles, an actor from Halifax, became the first newsreader with a regional accent.
Wilfred Pickles from Halifax - the first BBC newsreader with an accent.
Today the BBC has more than seven radio networks, 39 local radio stations and 42 Where I live websites as well as dedicated broadcasting for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It seeks to reflect the rich diversity of language, dialect and accent found in the British Isles. It is doubtful if many of the thousands of staff who work in today's BBC speak the sort of English which would have got them a job as an anouncer in 1922.
Here on the BBC West Yorkshire website we think there are LOADS of different accents and dialects in our county's cities, towns and villages. You can hear some of these if you look around our website so we hope you'll open your ears and join us on a virtual tour!
