When I grew up near a town of 6000 people in northern Ireland in the 70’s there were four distinct accents. Partly because there were two different recent growth phases to the town that brought in new people (from other parts of northern Ireland). And also because TV + education caused a generational change too for the locals. The much older inhabitants had a more Elizabethan grammer and a mix of Irish/Scots Gaelic + old English nautical vocabulary.
There’s a different accent every 50 or so miles.
Along with a new word for bread roll.
And a new cake, pudding, pie or cheese named after the nearest town
Pfft, 50 miles? I can tell which town most of the people in my area are from by their accent.
More like every 5 miles
When I grew up near a town of 6000 people in northern Ireland in the 70’s there were four distinct accents. Partly because there were two different recent growth phases to the town that brought in new people (from other parts of northern Ireland). And also because TV + education caused a generational change too for the locals. The much older inhabitants had a more Elizabethan grammer and a mix of Irish/Scots Gaelic + old English nautical vocabulary.