VISITORS to the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes will be able to make their own contributions to an unusual exhibition being staged there next week.

Students from Craven College in Skipton have spent the last 18 months talking to local people about the dialect words they know and are familiar with.

The main aim of the project was to encourage young people to explore Yorkshire dialects and their heritage

Jo Cremins - Dales Countryside Museum

The results of the Heritage Lottery funded project will be on display at the museum from Monday (July 2) to Friday and visitors will be able to write down their own examples to add to the collection.

They will also be able to listen to a variety of dialect words from the Yorkshire Dales and hear commentaries on dialect by authors and academics including Dr Arnold Kellett, who wrote The Yorkshire Dictionary, and Dr WR Mitchell - author of Daelnet's "Dales Folk" feature.

A photographic display of the Yorkshire Dales by local photographer Paul Duxbury is being staged to add a visual feel to the exhibition.

A multi-media computer with a touch screen that will enable visitors to hear dialects from different areas of the Dales has been set up for the exhibition and it will be in the museum permanently from the New Year.

Anyone wanting more information about the exhibition should contact Project Co-ordinator Jo Cremins on 01423 503461.

She will be on hand on some days to record visitors' contributions.

"The main aim of the project was to encourage young people to explore Yorkshire dialects and their heritage," she said.

"What we have discovered is that, unfortunately, the Yorkshire dialect is a bit sparse - it's becoming more watered down.

"But, an interesting thing is that many people recognised dialect words even if they didn't use them themselves because they remember older relatives using them."