Polski Sklep

Unless I happen across any more in the depths of my photographic archives these are the last eight of my colour slides of the Streets of London, produced in September 2008. I scanned them today.

At the corner of Chepstow Villas and Ledbury Road, new road surfacing was being carried out.

Major renewal of Water works was being carried out in and around Bayswater at this time. Here, Westbourne Grove, at the corner of Garway Road W2, was barred to traffic. Shops were intent on continuing their businesses for several months.

‘In England and Wales, the emergence of the first private water companies dates back to the 17th century. In 1820, six private water companies operated in London. However, the market share of private water companies in London declined from 40% in 1860 to 10% in 1900. In the 1980s, their share all over England and Wales was about 25%.[9] The tide turned completely in 1989 when the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher privatized all public water and sewer companies in England and Wales. In Scotland local governments dominated by the Labour party kept water systems in public hands.’ (Wikipedia)

On the barrier in the Garway Road picture, a notice urges cyclists to dismount. The owner of this one chained his steed to the railings in Kensington Gardens Square beside a restaurant in the above-mentioned Westbourne Grove.

‘Pickering Mews is part of Westminster City Council’s Bayswater Conservation Area. Developed over the space of about 70 years, the townscape is uniform despite being composed of several distinct areas and is made up of a regular composition of streets and squares in an Italianate style. An important aspect of the street pattern are the several mews, some quite intimate and others so large that they appear to be a development of their own. The contrast of scale provided by these mews is a crucial aspect of the overall area’s character.

The Mews has painted and rendered brickwork, one and two storey buildings with a mixture of flat, parapet and gable roof styles. The garages present are intact and surrounded by a cobbled road surface.’ https://everchangingmews.com/mews/pickering-mews/

Rede Place, W2 is tucked away behind Chepstow Road.

This corner of Notting Hill’s Pembridge Square W2 gives a whole new meaning to refuse collection.

This corner of Chesterfield Hill and Hay’s Mews lies in the heart of Mayfair. You don’t want to know what this house would cost to buy.

Polly Food and Wine, on another rather less salubrious corner plot – that shared by Meyrick Road and Willesden High Road NW10 – may be rather more affordable. Polski Sklep which translates as Polish Shop is defined by https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=polski%20sklep

as ‘[a] store selling exclusively Polish products, mostly food but can also include newspapers, magazines, seasonal goods. These have sprung up all over the UK in recent years with the huge influx of Poles, even in those areas where they are outnumbered by other ethnic communities, (such as Tooting in London). 

They all mostly stock the same sort of products, which unfortunately means that the more businessmen get in on the act the smaller the profits. Well known products include polish bread, pierogi, danio yogurts, kielbasa, sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers to name a few. 

As well as being frequented by Poles, there are a fair share of British consumers who venture into a Polski Sklep.”God, I can’t believe yet another polski sklep has opened onTootinghigh street, theres already one about 10 metres down the road” 

“Kumpilam te wysmienite ogorki w polskim sklepie na ealingu”#polska#polski#pierog#pierogi#polskisklepby Morela April 26, 2008′

We swapped Ian for Jacqueline at our dinner table this evening. Becky’s husband returned to Emsworth just for one night, and my sister stayed with us after having visited Mum in her care home. Our meal consisted of Jackie’s splendid beef in red wine; creamy mashed potatoes; crunchy carrots and cauliflower; and tender green beans. I drank more of the Fleurie; Jackie and Jacqueline drank Casillero del Diablo Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2017.

0 comments

  1. I just remember traveling through Poland with a fried who spoke Russian. He said Sklep means crypt in Russian and found it very funny they use this word for shops.

        1. A friend of mine invented a word card game which was translated into numerous languages. Each country had a team of people working on the translations making sure it was not possible to produce unacceptable four letter words

  2. You are a bit late today Derrick – so either a riotous evening around the dinner table or you had to get up from your cosy bed and go downstairs because you forgot……. Well done on getting all those Streets of London posted. The whole will make a fabulous coffee table book I’m thinking!

    1. Many thanks, Pauline. I can never be late without counting your coffees 🙂 When I started the series I had wondered about a book – but that was before blogging.

  3. Thank you for sharing your photos and a bit of history here! I enjoyed this very interesting post! 🙂
    And what a big job to scan all of your photos! I know you are happy that is now done. 🙂
    That corner house/building is lovely! I imagine it is costly.
    The polish foods sound yummy. I grew up on some of those and we were not even Polish. 🙂
    HUGS!!! 🙂

  4. Ohhhh, Kensington Gardens! I was there in my early 20s—I’m sure they have changed since then! Great post, Derrick, especially the piece on the Polish Sklep—wonder if they sell Polish dumplings?

  5. Thank you for sharing Derrick. I loved your photos, they always seem so sharp even when scanned..
    I trust you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with your family Derrick.. And no doubt you will be wined and dined by Jackie’s splendid cooking.. Her meals always sound delicious..
    Have a Wonderful Happy New Year Derrick..
    Love and Blessings your way 🙂

  6. Being hooked to your Streets of London series, it’s a bit dampening to learn you have run out of slides to scan. But being the magician you are with your camera as well as the pen, I trust I will be kept perennially entertained.

  7. Nice Pics Derrick. When I lived in the Alexandria, VA/Washington DC area back in the early 90’s the housing development where I purchased my 1st new home was known as The Mews. They were Trafalgar homes with a British touch. Noticed this section of London in you blog today.

  8. From Wikipedia: “In March 1994 Strathclyde Regional Council held a postal referendum of Strathclyde residents on whether control of water and sewerage services should be privatised. Seven out of ten voters returned papers, a total of 1.2 million people, of whom 97% voted against privatisation.”
    This really was the will of the people.

  9. It would be interesting to have an efficiency comparison between public and private provision of these utilities. Given the Scottish resisted Thatcherism, it seems the perfect comparison model is in place.
    So! You’ve come to the end of London road, have you? Now, if your digital filing system is anything like mine, you can look forward to hours of work making sure they are saved in places you can find them again. I should re-arrange all of mine before attempting to scan boxes and boxes of photos.
    I sold my 35mm SLR film camera the other day, to a small boutique store called “Smile Super 8”. He gave me a fair price too. He had heaps of equipment from the pre-digital era, including slide projectors 🙂 Quite an Aladdins cave.

    1. Thanks very much, Gwen. Water is the least problematic utility, I think. The comparison would certainly be an interesting one. Perhaps I could revisit the London series one day – earlier on I didn’t use the internet for further detail. I gave my Leica to my sister who is still interested in film. A Canon I left in France

      1. I sold my Canon AE1 with the metal body and standard 50mm lens. Early 80s version. The dealer said they are popular with some thirty year olds. No call for the telescopic zoom lenses though.

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