Forward by Mr Alan Godsal
(Written for The Book of Hurst)

As a descendant of a family that has occupied the same house in Hurst for over 250 years, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to write a short foreword to this book by Mr Farrar on the history of Hurst and its neighbourhood.

He has tackled a considerable task of research in order to improve our knowledge of the neighbourhood over the centuries. his work may act as a stimulus and encourage others, especially the young, to find out more about the recent history of this agricultural community and especially within the living memory of the older generation, in order to build up a fund of local knowledge which is interesting and will be useful to those who follow. Events which may now be considered unimportant could become of great value to historians of the future.

It is interesting to note that many of today's problems are not new and that our forbears had similar worries. We are fortunate in having someone resident in the village who has taken such interest and who has given us something not available to many other parishes and we owe a debt to Mr Farrar for his inspiring lead.


Haines Hill