Lancashire Dialect Competition
Jeff Unsworth the 'Lancashire Poet', visited the library on the 4th June 2009. Jeff gave up his time to read to the pupils of Abraham Guest, to give them a taster of our dialect and then enjoyed a nice cup of tea in the library while being interviewed by Tony from Rock FM. Mrs Boyers the librarian had organized a 'Lancashire Dialect Competition' using one of Jeff's poems from his web page. The aim of the competition was to introduce the pupils to the local dialect which seems to be slowly dieing out.

For the competition, the poem they had to study was 'Canine Wishes', which was all about children wanting dad to buy them a dog and dad being reluctant to buy them one. The winner of the competition was Josh Gannon of 8L. Josh received a selection of Jeff's poems on CD and a bag of 'Uncle Joes Mint Balls', a Lancashire delicacy of popular sweets made in Wigan. Josh then joined Jeff on the radio station and was interviewed by Tony from Rock FM about the competition. Jeff gave Josh some little tips on the correct pronunciation of the Lancashire dialect.
To end the day, Mrs Courtney brought her class along to the library to enjoy Jeff reading one of his favourite poems to them. Mrs Boyers, the librarian thanked Jeff by presenting him with a little gift to remember this special day at Abraham Guest. We hope that this day will be one of many to come to encourage our younger generation to hang on to their heritage, which is the 'Lancashire Dialect' which was spoken by the grand and great grand parents.
Thanks Jeff !

Rock FM Interview