Welcome to The Knaphillian

Your Village - At Your Fingertips...

One of the best things about The Knaphillian is the on-line community spirit it can create. Your positive comments keep us going and indeed our Village Forum is where many local issues can be discussed and dissected and where all your concerns about your village can be raised for debate. More changes and improvements were promised and you will see we have added a Property in Knaphill section as well as a link to You Tube where you can access some exhilarating items on our village and its people.

During March '10 we celebrate our 4th birthday which gives us an opportunity to reflect on some of the achievements of our first four years as Knaphill's best on-line resource. Indeed, an average of nearly 10,000 hits a year is testament to how far we've come.

The Knaphillian came to prominence following its Teenage Voice campaign. The idea was launched to highlight the lack of facilities for teenagers in the village. Since then we have seen the emergence of youth projects at The Kings House Coffee Shop and other initiatives supported by local church groups that have given our youngsters new hope. Outside facilities have also been added as is evident with the new basketball court at Redding Way opposite the Buddhist temple. None of this was available until after we gave the issue exposure - so read into it what you will!

In 2006/07 we thwarted a cheeky hi-jack attempt by the Resident's Association as they suggested that we merge our websites together as theirs was dormant and totally non-productive at the time. Fortunately we didn’t take the bait and this must have been to their advantage as well as ours. Our independent and forward thinking stance would have almost certainly rocked the boat with regards to the association's constitution. However, we would like to point out that in most cases we are pleased to give the KRA committee our full support.

Since our conception we have supported a number of charities and aided local benefit initiatives, the most prolific being our own Karolyne Foster's trek to Machu Picchu in Peru to walk the Inca Trail which raised in excess of £3,000 in aid of Action Medical Research.

The Knaphillian is widely renowned for organising the successful Knaphill Village Music Festival for 2007 & 2008 and indeed, live music is now a major part of Knaphill's entertainment calendar with more special nights planned for the future. Bands such as Aspex, The Hitch-Hikers and Six Miles Away have all benefited in some way from the exposure we afforded them on our website.

In 2007 we were also first with local news 'exclusives' such as the Strippers at the Crown and the fraud scandal involving staff at Barclays Bank in the village. Both were later covered by the local press and the BBC following reports on our Home Page. Quotes from our website were also used.

During 2008 our original web address was unbelievably 'stolen' by an unscrupulous 'businessman' in Taiwan. An administrative error by our website provider allowed our domain name to be sold on but we bounced back within a week as The Knaphillian.com and have gone from strength to strength ever since.

The Knaphill Village Forum is a popular place for local residents and visitors to air their views. Even local politicians have used it as a verbal boxing ring for their cross party exchanges! Our forum has also helped raise the profile of such important local issues as Anti-Social Behaviour, Almond Villa, Botany Barns and the future of the old library building.

We now look forward to the future with a number of new ideas and initiatives. These include the Knaphill Poetry Week, Sponsored Charity Walks and more enhancements to our site.

Thank you all for your continued support and for making us the No. 1 Community Website for Knaphill.

2009 Review

Well, that was the year that was: as The Knaphillian enjoyed another great year since its inception in March 2006. The village itself has seen a few changes to its fabric with the demolition of Almond Villa and the closure of Botany Barns. Two shops, Gallery 99 and The Thresher Wine Shop have also closed.

Almond Villa, the former NHS halfway house in The Broadway was targeted by child arsonists one Saturday in April which involved an ambulance helicopter spectacularly attending the scene. The building was later demolished but the site remains an eyesore.

The much maligned development of Brookwood Farm in Bagshot Road, Knaphill also continued with the structure of twelve eco-friendly houses. In fairness, these give the village a new dimension and we wait with baited breath as they become populated with new residents in the Spring of 2010. More development at the farm though, remains a major threat!

At Botany Barns, the new Surrey Poultry Farm has thrived on part of the site, but it is only there on a temporary lease as planning permission has been passed for a new development of houses/flats at the Barrs Lane site. The Pentangle Aquatic centre remains (for now!)

In April The Knaphillian received a record number of ‘hits' following our April Fools Day spoof about a massage parlour opening up at premises formerly occupied by The Viceroy Indian Resturant in the High Street. A number of people were taken in including local councillors, the press, estate agents and local residents. On a serious note, the aim of the ‘joke’ was to also attract people to our other content and make villagers aware of our existence – it worked!

Over Easter our own Karolyne Foster travelled to Argentina to appear in the BBC’s Total Wipeout. The programme was aired in July. 2009 also saw our first ever Knaphill Village Poetry Festival which attracted some great poetry from local writers. Again, this was high-lighted in the local press and was a great success. Knaphill based Author Hilary Mantel won the Bookers Prize for her novel Wolf Hall to international acclaim. The title is now high on the best sellers list.

In October we held our third annual Knaphill Village Music Festival with events at The Crown pub and The Knaphill Working Men’s Club. The line up included the consistently brilliant Frayed Not (pictured), The Hitch-Hikers and the recently disbanded Six Miles Away as well as the Dave Raphael Band and many others. The Knaphillian will continue to support live pub music in the new year – so watch this space!

Our Village Forum has also been a great success and recent discussion has triggered debate on many local issues, such as the future of the old library site, Brookwood Farm, Knaphill border issues, local bus services and much, much more....

Your Village - At Your Fingertips.....