I was delighted to be one of the first through the doors of The Station pub when it reopened on Valentine’s Day. Having been inside the empty and unkempt building two months earlier, the transformation was startling. What a great job the Parish Council and new publicans Becky and Lloyd Willis have done in bringing this important community hub back to life after three long years. Fantastic. A great day for Knebworth.
Because I was first in, I was able to pop my head into the Ladies – don’t be alarmed, I won’t make a habit of it – to admire two of the framed poster bills from the turn of the last century that we found in the Knebworth House Archive to contribute to the decoration of the pub. One of these promises that “Better Health Awaits You” if you drink milk “direct from the cow” via Swangley’s Dairy Farm – “Phone Knebworth 34.”
To save you making the call – if you fancy some milk direct from the cow after your glass of wine at The Station – here’s a useful map of how to get from The Station Hotel to Swangley’s Farm, also from our Archive. You’ll notice there was no Co-op to pass in those days. Indeed no High Street. Only the newly named Station Road (formally Aston Road) leading to the new little hamlet of Knebworth Station.
For more history of our village, do visit Knebworth House on our Parish Open Day on Sunday 22nd March. We celebrate the start of our 2020 Summer Season by inviting all residents of Knebworth Parish to visit Knebworth House, Park, Gardens, Adventure Playground & Dinosaur Trail as our guests. Please use the Old Knebworth entrance at St Mary’s Church and bring this magazine to let us know that you are a neighbour.
Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH