NEWLY-RELEASED archive recordings have revealed the changing sounds of Northern England.

A website from the British Library features regional accents recorded in the 1950s and compares them with recordings from 1998 and 1999.

More than 11 hours of interviews reveal how words and accents have changed in fewer than 50 years.

It also demonstrates how the pronunciation of words such as town, house and cow, which were "toon", "hoose" and "coo" as far south as Yorkshire in the 1950s, now only survives in some Scottish dialects and Newcastle accents.

Jonathan Robinson, curator of English accents and dialects at the British Library Sound Archive, said: "Contrary to popular belief, there is still an incredible amount of regional diversity and the recordings on this website illustrate elements both of continuity and of change."

He pointed to greater social and geographical mobility, and education as the main causes of linguistic change.

The topics discussed by the speakers offer an insight into life five decades ago, with pig killing and baking bread among the subjects chosen by speakers in the 1950s.

The more modern speakers cover issues including their jobs and football.

For more information, visit the website at www.collect britain.co.uk/collections/dialects.