Growing up in the 1980s, I could tell from their accent whether a child came from Oakham (where I lived), Whissendine (five miles away), or Melton Mowbray (five

Growing up in the 1980s, I could tell from their accent whether a child came from Oakham (where I lived), Whissendine (five miles away), or Melton Mowbray (five miles beyond that). 30/40 years later the differences are still there, but increasingly ironed out by the spread of a generic southern English accent. Where I now live in rural Oxfordshire, the traditional local accent is a definite minority, particularly in those under 40. There are little tell-tale vowels and phrases if you look closely for them, but they're more like variations on a common accent. That said, Midlands and northern accents seem to be fairly resilient, at least for now.