Exhibition marks history of Leek’s Polish connection

An exhibition sharing the stories of Polish soldiers and their families who settled in Staffordshire nearly 80 years ago is set to open.

Community arts programme Outside said the exhibition at Leek’s Nicholson Museum and Art Gallery includes recordings from members of the Polish community.

Called The Leek Polish Connection, it features memories of those who came to the area, recalls their fighting in Italy and journeys.

In 1946, between 4,000 to 5,000 Polish soldiers came to Blackshaw Moor Camp, on the Leek to Buxton road, which was among many demobilisation camps, it added.

Outside said the heart of the Polish community was in camp one, which included a kindergarten, shop, clubhouse and chapel.

“For anyone with memories of the Polish experience to share, oral histories will be collected on Saturdays throughout the exhibition,” an Outside spokesperson added.

The exhibition, which starts on Saturday and runs until 8 June, is part of a programme of events by the Leek Polish Connection group.

Barbara Sidley, from the group, said the exhibition was long overdue.

“We are the proud sons and daughters that started life in Blackshaw Moor Camp and grew up there, in a community full of warmth and support and an undercurrent of nostalgia, for a homeland our parents could never return to,” she said.

Fay Dumighan, who submitted photos of her father to the exhibition, said she joined the group to celebrate her Polish heritage and had the bonus of making new friends.

The wider project, which received funding from Arts Council England and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Manchester, includes free Polish craft activities and a dance at a 1940s-style event at the Foxlowe Arts Centre on Saturday.

Members also worked with St Mary’s Academy pupils in Leek to create a poppies installation, which will be unveiled at the Den Engel courtyard archway dedicated to the Polish community on Friday.