Back to school! The Knaphill History Lessons are a series of fairly easy caches intended to test your local knowledge ... and maybe more. There's no real puzzle solving involved - all of the required information can be found easily online. See the Bookmark List for other caches in the series.
The Basingstoke Canal skirts Knaphill to the south on its way from Brookwood to St John's. It was completed in 1794 and ran from the Hampshire town of Basingstoke to its junction with the River Wey Navigation in Surrey, 37 miles away. It was a mainly agricultural waterway, with timber and flour being carried downstream to London and coal and finished goods carried upstream to the towns and villages along its route. However, it was never a great commercial success, and the coming of the railway 50 years later hastened its decline.
The canal hasn't been fully navigable for over a century, and the last section into Basingstoke was cut off when the roof of the Greywell Tunnell collapsed in 1932. The canal fell into a state of disrepair, and by the mid-60s not one of the 29 locks were operable.
The Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society was formed in 1966 to campaign for the full restoration of the Canal as an amenity under public ownership. Today, 32 miles of the original navigation have been restored, catering for boaters, walkers, canoeists, anglers, naturalists and, of course, Geocachers!
To find the cache you will need to answer the following questions - here.
The cache is hidden alongside the canal - where else! Take care with young children.
Congratulations on the FTF to Woking Wonders.