PROUD OF MY NORTHERN ROOTS!

With over a quarter of adults saying they're mocked for their accent, Stephanie Oram, 51, speaks out

- ASHLEIGH PAGE

Standing at the bar with my new flatmate on the first night of Freshers' Week, I got the barman's attention. Bottle of lager and a glass please, I said, and at that moment, my flatmate burst out laughing. "Glass!" she said. Only, our poles-apart accents meant we'd said it in a very different way - and all these years later, IS PAF I'd still tell her and anyone else who asked, it's definitely 'gl-ass', not 'glars!

Back then, I was 19 and I'd just moved from my home in Blackpool to a university down south and didn't I know it. I was surrounded by southerners constantly arguing with me that it's 'barth' and gra-rss'. Erm no, it's ba-th and gra-ss!"

While my friends often laughed about my twang, I was always proud to be from the North.

For as long as I can remember, I've always been very aware of my accent.