DIALECT expert Dr Bill Griffiths will spell out his fascination with the history of local accents on Friday.

Dr Griffiths, who lectures at Northumbria University and has recently had a A Dictionary of North-East dialect published, will be the guest speaker at the annual meeting of Weardale Museum, Ireshopburn, at 7pm.

His 206-page book took a decade to research and includes more than 2,000 local dialect words.

It also contains references to the series of Betty Podkins books, the story of the Weardale dialect by William Morley Egglestone..

These have been reprinted with a modern translation by the Weardale Museum.

For more information about Dr Griffiths' talk and the Betty Podkins books, contact museum secretary David Heatherington on (01388) 517433.