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Well I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm almost sure that the accent I remember in East Hertfordshire as a boy has all but died out. This was a fairly thick country accent, not dissimilar to that of west country England, complete with its own words. A good example of a local word is 'twitchell', meaning a narrow footpath.

I'm sure if you asked most of the current inhabitants of East Herts what a twitchell is now, very few would know. And I no longer hear the country accent sounding round the bars of the local pubs.

There has been a large influx of people from north London into Hertfordshire, which has resulted in most people speaking what has been termed 'Estuary English', which is now prevalent throughout the Home Counties.

Are the original county accents dying out, or have they just moved into the deeper reaches of the countryside? Is this happening in other parts of Britian? Let us have your comments on our forum.