Taking a tour of the Polish Corridor

The No.74 bus runs from Putney Bridge to Baker Street. Once upon a time, as the bus was driving down the Cromwell Road, the conductor would call out “Polish Corridor!” In some cases, he would even shout the words in Polish.

In the 1960s, this neighbourhood featured Polish cafes and restaurants, lawyers and doctors, hairdressers and chemists. At that point, Britain contained 135,000 Poles, with roughly a third living in London. Many would take the 74 bus to reach South Kensington.

The Polish presence in London dates back to the Victorian Era. In the eighteenth century, the country was divided between her neighbours: Russia, Austria and Prussia. In the following century, there were two major uprisings against Russian rule, taking place in 1831 and 1863. In both cases, the Russian reprisal was fierce, sending Poland’s social and political elite into exile.

Many came to London, with socialists and left-wing activists gathering in East End neighbourhoods. They were later joined by Polish Jews fleeing from Russian pogroms and likewise settling in East London. These included the parents of Jack Cohen, founder of Tesco supermarkets, who made their home in Whitechapel.

But it was war that brought the Polish community to South Kensington. In September 1939, the German army invaded Poland, marking the start of the Second World War. The Polish government fled first to France, and then to Britain, bringing with them the surviving fragments of the Polish army.

Under the leadership of General Sikorsky, the Polish government in exile was established in London. At first, their headquarters were the Polish members’ club founded on Prince’s Gate. Known as the Ognisko Polskie, the Polish Hearth, it was intended as a mess for Polish officers in London.

Later the government moved to nearby 20 Prince’s Gate, along with a presidential residence on Eaton Place. They consisted of a coalition from across the political spectrum, including several noble families like the foreign minister Count Edward Raczyński. They all hoped that, once the fighting was over, their country’s independence would be restored.

Sadly, the Allies ended up betraying Poland. Recognising the importance of the Soviet Union to the overall war effort, they ceded the country to the Soviet sphere of influence during the Yalta Conference. After the war, Poland was lost behind the Iron Curtain, meaning its military and political leaders remained in exile.

During this period, over 250,000 Polish servicemen who fought with the Allied armies were resettled in Britain. Many officers moved to South Kensington, causing the local Catholic Church, the Brompton Oratory, to begin holding a Polish Solemn Mass each Sunday.

As long as the country remained under Soviet rule, the London government claimed to represent the true wishes of the Polish people. Over the following decades, the officers and aristocrats who gathered in South Kensington were joined by middle-class dissidents escaping communism in the 70s and 80s.

The Polish mass took place every week between 1945 and 1962, until a permanent Polish Catholic Mission was established in Hammersmith. That neighbourhood also became home to the Polish Social and Cultural Association, containing a gallery, a theatre, and a library with 90,000 Polish books.

Throughout the Cold War, the BBC Polish section hosted exiled intellectuals, while the Polish Ex-Combatants Association served as an important charity for veterans. Then, following the fall of Communism and Poland’s membership of the EU, a new generation of Poles began living in London.

The government offices on Prince’s Gate have since become the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, containing extensive archives documenting the work of the Polish underground during the war. Meanwhile, the Ognisko Polskie club remains open a few doors down, with rooms, a restaurant, and a regular collection of cultural events in English – exploring Polish films, literature and music.

However, perhaps the best souvenir of this community is Daquise. Founded in 1947 next to South Kensington station, it has been serving Polish cuisine ever since. The restaurant was a favourite of Count Edward Raczyński, by this point President of Poland in exile, as well as director Roman Polanski and spy Yevgeni Ivanov – the Russian naval attaché involved in the Profumo affair. For those who want to sample the country’s enduring influence in this neighbourhood, Daquise is the perfect place to start.