About Sarah Ann Shave

Welcome to my website.

My name is Sarah and I have a passion for preserving the old Suffolk ways of life. My fascination for it started very young, in fact I was born into that way of life. So maybe that’s why it became such a vast part of how I live.

I am a born and bred Suffolk gal, and a rural countryside one at that. My family and ancestors all worked and farmed this beautiful land, dating back hundreds of years and countless generations. It comes with a way of life that believes in the old ways. Working with the land gently, not against it. Living alongside the seasons, moon cycles, folklore, old traditions and customs. Most of all it also means being respectful of those that toiled hard on this land and honouring our ancestors. Its in my DNA, my blood, the soil beneath my feet and most of all it is in everything that I do today.

My family always spoke the dialect and the accent remained intact for generations. My own accent and words that I use daily are the ones I was brought up with. It is the language of the old ways and old Suffolk rural life. In modern times it is ebbing away but thankfully there are still a few of us that genuinely speak with the old native mother tongue of old Suffolk.

I was raised among the old country ways of seasonal lore, the land, old customs and traditions, folklore and ghosts stories. These old ways were fascinating to me and I started collecting them at an early age. Into my adult working life and travelling around Suffolk and East Anglia I continued collecting more old stories, old lore and folk tales from those that I met. Including old books, documents and manuscripts that date back 500 years. I amassed a collection that I am now sharing here on the website and social media.

Fast forward to recent years. I have helped work on over 200 projects for film, television, stage, radio. From documentaries to helping vocal coach actors with the Suffolk accent. I have helped authors, scriptwriters, film directors, academics, universities, museums, from around the world. I was the person behind the scenes that nobody ever saw, until recently.

Our regional accents, dialects and old ways are part of our heritage and history. They are part of us. Most of all I know they are a huge part of who I am. They are my deep connection to the land beneath my feet, the same one my ancestors had that lived before me. Everything I do is for everything that they once did.