The word Knightsbridge brings to mind some of London’s greatest hits: the upscale shopping emporiums if Harrods and Harvey Nicholls; the destination galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum; the baroque grandeur of the Brompton Oratory. But that’s only one side of the story.

Take the streets that the tourists rarely tread, and you’ll encounter a village-like neighbourhood cherished by its residents. It’s an enclave of charming, colourful mews houses that seem to have been parachuted in from another time and place, and small businesses whose owners are familiar faces to those who call the area home.

There are independent coffee houses such as Carpo, where you can also enjoy artisanal nuts and small-batch chocolate; there are the relaxed pubs – the flower-bedecked Anglesea Arms is much-loved redoubt – and there are the sporting communities that have sprung up around the nearby Hyde Park tennis courts and lido. More intriguing yet are the little secrets that locals hold dear. Have you ever drunk Potocki vodka in the elegant bar of the Polish Ognisko club restaurant and bar? Or taken in a French classic at the Ciné Lumière?

You must – but you didn’t hear about it from us...