• A Whiff o’ t’ Past by Mike Park (North Riding)
    Image: The Scarborough Spa Express, Harrogate Station - Mark Appleton - Mark Appleton Photography

Dialect writing - A Whiff o’ t’ Past by Mike Park (North Riding)

Ah’ve nivver bin inside yan, bud Ah keeap hearin’ aboot thease here new-fangled coffee hooses where thoo can buy jist aboot ivvery type o’ coffee goin’.
An’ maist on ‘em seeame ti hev furrin’ neames, fer sum reason. Fer instance, Ah’ve heeard of a netty, bud what’s a ‘latty’ when it’s at yam?
Mind, like a lot o’ things, bein’ offered a choice o’ different types o’ coffee is nowt new. Back in ma younger days, ivvery toon hed big neames lahk Kardomah an’ Lyons wheer thoo cud sample dozens o’ varicose brands o’ coffee, or even buy t’beans an’ tek ‘em yam ti brew thi own.
Theer were a shop called Roontrees i’ Scarborough, an’ it hed a girt coffee grinder i’ t’winder, an’ all day lang, t’smell o’ t’coffee used ti waft oot inti t’street. It fair med thi mooth watther as thoo walked by!
Bud then sartin smells allus were gooid at bringin’ back mem’ries. Nooadays, fer sum reason, t’seaside wheer Ah live disn’t seem ti smell ‘seasidey’ onny mooar, lahk it did when Ah were a lad. Yance ower, thoo used ti be able ti get a grand lungful o’ what they called t’smell o’ t’ozone, an’ thoo allus knew when thoo was gettin’ near t’sea wi’oot even seein’ t’waves. Nooadays, ivverywheer seems ti smell o’ nowt bud hamburgers, pizza, an’ fried chicken!
Yan ither smell ‘at nivver fails ti set mi mooth wattherin’ is fryin’ bacon. Ah can hardly wait fer it ti get broon an’ crispy i’ t’pan, stick it atween twa slices o’ bread, an’ sink me teeth intiv it. 
Theer’s on’y yan trubble wi’ bacon, an’ wi coffee an’ all fer that matter, an’ it’s a bit ov a disappointment… They nivver ivver taste quite as gooid as they smell, do they?

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