Polish Hostel

A little corner of Poland deep in rural Herefordshire.

A visit to the rustic hamlet of Credenhill in Herefordshire where for one community the first language will always be Polish. Reporter Len Tingle visits a hostel for old Polish service men which, with an aging population forty years after the war, faces an uncertain future. Forty-nine old soldiers were resident in 1983 and, as this film shows, the physical and psychological scars from the conflict were deep.

The hostel closed in 1987. Over fifty graves in the cemetery at Credenhill's Saint Mary's church mark the final resting place for some of the Polish war veterans. These will always act as a reminder that a tiny but important Polish community existed in a far flung corner of Herefordshire.