Foreword
by Sue Hembrow

My father Eric Hembrow was originally approached to write this foreword. Unfortunately he passed away in September 2003 and therefore the honour has now passed to me.

Stoke St Gregory is undoubtedly a unique place to live. I often refer to it as ‘fashionably unfashionable’. It is this uniqueness that has shaped its character over the centuries.

My family of Hembrows can be traced back to living here for fourteen generations. I feel this suggests that there must be something quite special for people to stay in this area.

We are most fortunate to live in such a caring community where we take an interest in and help each other. These are incredibly valuable assets. However, complacency needs to be avoided. We all need to be aware that our way of life is constantly changing and being challenged. We must absorb change and work with it rather than against it.

Shortly before Eric died he asked me if I thought Stoke had benefited from him residing here. When I told him I thought it had it was obvious how important it was to him to have made a difference to the village that he loved and cared for.

I have come to realise that we all have the capability of making a difference to our community. It is really quite simple – we have to pull together.

This plan has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to formulate and shape our future. The high standard of work put into compiling this document is outstanding and I was particularly impressed with the most encouraging response to the original questionnaire.

I therefore would like to propose that we adopt a “DON’T WAIT TO BE ASKED PHILOSOPHY”. Support a project that you are interested in and make it happen. Rest assured that whatever you decide upon will make a difference to Stoke St Gregory.

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