MY CV Your neighbourhood, your report.
Byline: Interview by PAUL BARRYDUNCHURCH: CV22
TONY KEMBER has owned the Village Green Hotel in Dunchurch for six years.
He is chairman of Dunchurch Traders' Association, a member of Dunchurch Historical Society, and was chairman of last year's Dunchurch Jubilee Celebrations Group.
Tony, aged 59, used to run a chain of specialist wool shops called Websters. He and wife Susan moved to the village in 1969 and live in Rugby Road.
His son Simon runs a household goods business, The Mill Outlet, with six shops in and around Coventry and Warwickshire. His daughter Jane Garland is head of the Rugby Montessori Nursery School, and his son Peter is better known as pop musician Sonic Boom, formerly of experimental indie group Spacemen 3.
WHAT IS THE FOCAL POINT OF THE VILLAGE?
THE Market Cross. The right to hold a market was given to Dunchurch by King John.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE VILLAGE?
I VISITED a shop here when I was working as a sales rep, and I just thought it was a fabulous place. Some years later, a property called White Lodge, in Vicarage Lane, came on the market. It used to be the estate office for the Duke of Buccleuch. It was the most wonderful early Georgian house and it had been restored by the famous furniture makers Waring and Gillow. We lived there for 30 years until the children grew up.
WHAT'S THE BEST THING ABOUT LIVING HERE?
ARCHITECTURALLY, it has some wonderful buildings and most of them have been extremely well looked after. You still have this very nice feeling of the history of the place. And the people, of course. There are a lot of people whose families have lived here for generations and that is very special.
...AND THE WORST?
IT has to be the trucks that come through on Southam Road and Rugby Road. I'm sure one day there will be a bypass.
WHERE'S GOOD TO EAT AND DRINK?
WE are lucky to have two drinking places for locals, The Green Man and the Dunchurch Social Club. You see the same people in both. The Dun Cow is popular with visitors and does good, moderately-priced food. We have several restaurants now. The Huntsman is particularly well-known, there's the Thatched Cottage, and the new place No 1 The Square serves the most super Indian food.
WHAT ARE YOUR SHOPS LIKE?
THERE are more than 30 shops and restaurants in the traders' association, which is quite a lot for a village. We have a post office, which is nothing short of a miracle for most villages now. We are well blessed with hairdressers, we have two ladies' clothing shops and a super little antiques shop. In the last five years there haven't been any empty shops. Our village school is going strong and I think a lot of good things flow from that.
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE LIVE IN THE VILLAGE?
IT'S a good cross-section of the population. We have a good mix of people who've lived here all their lives and others who've moved from towns to enjoy village life. It's a very strong community where people know their neighbours.
IF THE QUEEN CAME TO VISIT, WHERE WOULD YOU TAKE HER?
I WOULD show her some of the wonderful architecture from medieval times through to the Victorian era. I'd take her to Guy Fawkes' House, formerly the Red Lion Inn, where the Gunpowder Plot conspirators waited to find out whether they had managed to blow up Parliament. And I'd take her to my home, The Old Forge, because that's the former blacksmiths where Longfellow wrote his poem Under The Spreading Chestnut Tree.
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE AREA'S HISTORY?
THERE was a Saxon settlement here, and it's thought the Danes came here when they settled in Rugby. After the Norman conquest, the Monks of Pipewell in Lincolnshire inherited land including Dunchurch. The 11th-century Norman church, St Peter's, is still a lovely church. Dunchurch became a stop-off on the road to Ireland via Holyhead, because it was about a day's ride from London.
WHAT, IF ANYTHING, WOULD MAKE YOU LEAVE?
I DON'T think there's anything. I just love living and working here and there's everything I need.
WHAT ONE THING COULD THE COUNCIL DO TO IMPROVE THE AREA?
IT would be nice if more could be spent on pavements and car-parking because Dunchurch has good potential as a tourist attraction.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE AREA?
IT'S my house. Out of one window I can see my lovely garden and the beautiful church, and through the other I can see the statue of Lord Douglas Montague Douglas Scott, Duke of Buccleuch. Every year someone secretly dresses the statue in fancy dress.
WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE YOU'VE LIVED HERE?
THE nice thing is that there really hasn't been much change.
CAPTION(S):
NO PLANS TO MOVE: Tony Kember wouldn't live anywhere else but Dunchurch
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Coventry Evening Telegraph (England) |
| Article Type: | Interview |
| Date: | Jan 27, 2003 |
| Words: | 822 |
| Previous Article: | LETTERS: your views. |
| Next Article: | Dogs to sniff for drugs in school; 'Aim for a clean bill of health'. |