Valley Voices

Last updated: 03 December 2005

Anna Brown, David Harris and Glenys Harris, from Treorchy are proud of their south Wales valleys accents but feel the media looks down on people who speak that way.

your comments

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Linda from Merthyr
Accents are strange. I was once asked "Where are you from?" She says you're from the Rhondda but I think you sound like you're from Merthyr! Actually I spent the first 23 yrs of my life in the Rhondda and the next 23 yrs in Merthyr so not a bad guess all round! I find that English people know you're Welsh OK but Cardiff people think that the Valleys accent is a sign of ignorance and poor education. I have an MSc and am currently studying for a PhD. I still proudly speak "Wenglish". My father had Welsh speaking parents who, at the time (1910) thought that he would never succeed if he didn't speak English, and so the language was lost to my family. It's time people didn't associate regional accents (Welsh, Yorkshire, Cornish, Scottish) with ignorance. We're just as clever as you. (PS I am also a member of MENSA).

Tim Murphy from Dublin
Despite the surname, I'm originally from Wattstown and had a typical Rhondda accent. When I was twelve I moved to live in Cardiff and it was like another country not just over 20 miles away! I got a lot of friendly 'stick' for a while, but my accent began to change as the years went by. However, with many relatives still in the valleys I find it easy enough to speak 'Rhondda' or 'Kairdiff' when I'm home (and now with a bit of Dublin added in!)

Les Brooks, Abertillery
The Welsh accent is still pretty strong in our valley but I wonder how long it will last. Our beautiful lilt is being broken down gradually by stealth. My own granddaughter came home and called her mam mummy which she picked up in school ... let's try and keep some of our accent alive.

Mike Davis, Gladstone, Michigan, USA
I live in an isolated part of the United States that we call the U.P. That is for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The U.P. had a very distinct accent from the rest of the US. It is a pleasure to listen to, but like yours is kind of looked down on by the rest of the country. Kind of rustic, I suppose.It is a blend of many languages: Scandinavian, Finnish, English, French, and Natives. The thing is that it is disappearing, and I suppose that your localized accents will also disappear in time. It is great that someone is memorializing your perfectly wonderful speech. My son wants to visit Wales because he thinks that, then HE will be the one with the exotic accent. Hwyl, y'all.

Blurt from Newport
My "Dai Butt" mates (err non-townies) say Newportonians are Welsh Wurzles with a mix of Bristolian and Welsh. Truth is you only have to move from Caerleon to Duffryn to see a marked difference in accent. The further you move up the Afon Llwyd Valley the more Welsh (stereotypical Welsh that is) the accent becomes. Really, does it matter? Next generation of kids will all sound like either someone from Hollyoaks, Eastends or maybe even Home and Away.

Paul, Gwent/valleys
I have a very broad strong Welsh valley accent. I have had negative and positive experiences outside of Wales having lived and worked for a number of years in posh Surrey. There were a lot of spoilt privileged well educated youngsters who thought it funny to mock and laugh at the way I spoke, but these were just the elitist arrogant type who where loathed pretty much everywhere anyway and I took no notice. A lot of people had difficulty understanding me until I began to slow down and speak clearer for them, but in general most people loved it. Especially the women who would surround me in the other bar to listen and talk with me simply because they loved my accent. Mind you I am gorgeous so that did help he he!

Steve from Aberdare
I agree that the accent changes even within a couple of miles. I was born in Mountain Ash and now I live in Aberdare (four miles North) where there is a marked difference. I think that the reason why a lot of valleys people are ashamed of their accents dates back to the industrial revolution, where the English coal and Iron Industrialists banned the speaking of Welsh because they could not understand the native language. Children were beaten and caned by teachers if they spoke Welsh and made to wear a shameful badge which identified them as Welsh speakers. As a result, the language has almost died out in South Wales but the accent has thankfully survived. It has been said that the Welsh language is the oldest surviving language in the whole of Europe. Now armed with that information I think that if you are Welsh, you should be very proud indeed!

Rory from Ebbw Vale
Yeah I agree that the Cardiff and Newport accents sound English to me and I can in no way tell them apart. Maybe our capital city is way too close to the English border? It would have been better to have had Swansea as our capital I think. That advert on tv with Charlotte Church doing a crisps advert just made me feel embarassed because she has an English/Cardiff accent. She tried to do a valleys accent and that made me totally cringe.

Terry Sexon Oxfordshire
My father was born in Trethomas Rhymney valley in 1927. He came to England in 1945 and was proud of being a valley boy. My children were born in Oxford but have the connection, ie Ryan my son and daughter Kerys are always there. The accent is unique and I sometimes turn to this when talking of my family and relations in the valley. Be proud of your native tongue and Welshness!

Nye Hamer from Birmingham, Alabama, USA
I think the valleys accent is wonderful, something we from the valleys should be proud of. I was born and raised in Ebbw Vale, and I am proud to be Welsh. I've been living in Alabama for nearly seven years. Strangely most of the people I meet don't know where Wales is, but they do love my accent. I'm often asked 'Is Wales in England?' That is when I very mildly blow my top. They ALL know where England, Scotland and Ireland are, so why don't they know anything about our beloved Wales? I shall have to start educating these Alabamians!

trevor morgan worcester u.k.
are there regional accents in wales

Me from Talybont!
Love it!

Anneleise Powell from Newport
I don't really like the Valley accent because to me it sounds a bit thick! I would prefer the more town accent.

Gryff, Ebbw Vale
I think it's amazing how the "very Welsh" accent of Brynmawr, Bleanau Gwent changes to the "very English" accent of Gilwern, Monmouthshire which is only a few miles apart. How's this?

Walter Harris. Cwmbran, born Llanhilleth
I worked in Cardiff about 60 years ago where the staff in St Mary Street referred to me as "The Welsh Boy"! I lived in Somerset for about 12 years from 1954, where many Welsh people had been integrated with the indigenous population - as the Somerset people had integrated with the Welsh in Monmouthshire in the early 20th cntury. The accent was different - but the English spoken was similar. Before WW2 the common greeting in the valleys was "Howbe butty?" So it was in Somerset - but without the 'butty' until about the 1960s. Generally in the Welsh valleys, the English has improved with a smattering of Harlem-American thrown in. Consequently, the accent has changed a lot. The pronounciation of broad vowels has altered - to sound more like that English known as 'BBC English'. Listen to children speaking, and in particular notice the pronounciation for example of:- Wales, vale, road, date, train. Television I think has a great influence on most children everywhere, even if their accents are similar to their parents.

Wayne from Ystrad Mynach
It's interesting to note Huw from Carmathen's contribution, but my comments are derived over a number of years working in Cardiff and reading on its history. We are only about 14 miles away after all. Peter Finch's article (on the net) called Real Cardiff states "The accent derives from the large number of Irish and West of England immigrants who more than doubled the local population at the time of the industrial revolution. It's unique to Cardiff. If anything it's similar to the Scouse accent. Frank Hennessey and his constant celebration of one of our most un-Welsh accent has a lot to answer for, but probablbly amuses all that listen. I was wrong in saying that I hate it, because in all honesty I don't.

Len Morris from Los Angeles
Born in the Rhymney Valley 70 years ago I still have a Welsh accent after living in America for 40 years. Cardiff has a more gutteral accent, but it's Welsh alright when you hear it out of the country, say in the USA. Sometimes though, if you go to the top of the Valley (Rhymney) it's much stronger and can be a little difficult to understand every word.

Hannah Davies from Treorchy
BBC Radio Wales plays some of the best classical music, oh how it takes me back to those moonlight dances with my boyfriends!

Ashley from Abercynon
"Talk Tidy", it's a book written about Valley's English, (Wenglish). It is the dictionary for an alien who originally landed in England and comes to the Valleys.I hope we don't lose this 3rd language of Wales.

Ayla from Mountain Ash, Cynon Valley
A valleys accent can be a blessing in disguise. Although hearing a strong valleys accent, like my own, on TV or radio makes me cringe a little, I find it to be an essential part of my identity and heritage. I am currently living in Reading where my accent is welcomed. I am instantly recognisable as Welsh, which I am very proud of and always enjoy. Where you come from, and how you show it, is nothing to be ashamed of!

Linda McMillan, Crail, Fife
I like the Welsh accent. It is tuneful on the ear, one of the better ones that we have in Great Britain.

Huw Garan, Carmarthenshire
The Kairdiff accent, contrary to Wayne from Ystrad Mynach's assertion, is not the 'by-product of Irish navvies and Cornish tinkers,' but rather it shows clearly the influence of the Gwenhwyseg accent, which is the name given to the dialect of Welsh spoken throughout industrial south Wales, from approximately the Swansea Valley to Newport (Monmouthshire). This accent is older by far than the influence of our cousins from Éire and Kernow and probably predates even the English invasion of Wales. I stand more than willing to be corrected by anyone who can show evidence to disprove any of my points, but this, to the best of my imperfect knowledge is the case.

Gareth Jones originally from Abercynon
Not only is there a change in accent from the eastern valleys to the west (as a previous entry correctly states) but there is a very pronounced change as you move from south to north through the valleys. I went to school in Mountain Ash. Pupils who travelled to school from Aberdare, 4 or 5 miles further north, sounded very different with a much more pronounced Welsh accent.

Wayne from Ystrad Mynach
The valleys accent changes from West to East & is softer in the eastern valleys. No doubt as a result of the English pouring into the valleys during the early 1900s. Only my grandmother was of direct Welsh descent (Pembrokeshire), the rest mainly coming from Bristol, Kent and Hereford. Relatives in Pembrokeshire use to say that we had a Monmouthshire accent. I agree with Andy, only difference is that I would place Kairdiff before the Brummy and Geordie accent. The Kairdiff accent is nothing but a by-product of Irish navvies and Cornish tinkers, and it sounds it.

Matthew in Birmingham, originally from Pontypool
There's nothing as wonderful as the valleys accent - it identifies its user immediately and you can spot people from home all over the world. It has a beautiful lilt that's so suited to singing. It gets described as a 'sing song' accent - and I think that nails it right down. My accent is nowhere near as strong as it is - but when ever I get excited or a little drunk... out it comes in force!

David Llewellyn Morgan, Baden Pennsylvania USA
Can't beat the Cwmafan accent. Such as BBC radio presenter Chris Needs. Chris can talk the proper Queen's English but when he want's he can go back to his Cwmafan accent just like my father. Port Talbot's accent comes in for a second for me. Love it, Joyo!

Andy from Aberdare
A broad valleys accent can sometimes be embarrassing. True, it does have a lilt that many outsiders find welcoming, but to hear some person on the tv or radio with a strong valleys accent makes me cringe, and gives the impression, especially to English listeners, that we are are all twp. Of course, I'd rather hear the valleys accent anytime rather than Brummy, which must be one of the worst accents in the world, followed by a close second, Cairdiff!

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