Driscoll House, New Kent Road

MarcusM. the whole street is single yellow, and even though I may moan about the coaches being there are as long as they have their engines off I can put my annoyance on the back burner. Many are parked up for hours at a time as you can see by the photo. The two foreign coaches were parked so dangerously about a foot or so from the brow of the road entrance from n.k.r. which is marked by red route lines coming around.
The hours of parking up can be from 8/9/10/12 in fact any time. I dont know why they don't have a stretch for coaches to park down Mandela Way, no residenial, and a nice wide road.
And as I have said before by the evening the English Coaches have normally gone.
The cafe in bartholomew street serves all the drivers and obviously is providing a valuable service in making sure they are refreshed and are able to use the lavatory in the cafe....a hungry driver busting to go a wee is a hazard on the roads...as I can verify! lol

It will be a bit quieter for a day or two then will start again..

may we keep Driscoll House open as a topic? What it has become is a miserable overpriced destination. Driscoll is spinning in his grave, as this is the cheap tourist version of something he spent decades making certain Driscoll House would not become. I lived and worked there, and this incarnation is a pathetic farce.

I worked in the kitchen, I worked the boilers shoveling coal, I recall telling Sir Driscoll that the boiler was dead. We went without hot water for three weeks because he ignored us. Skint when it came to maintenance. Paid thru the nose to replace it.

It was a bruised apple, living there. I loved the people, I loved the congress most of us intuitively had, I loved almost everything about what some would consider a dive. If that was a dive, it was the best dive on the whole planet.

you want a photo of the tea mug they gave me on xmas? I still have it, I keep it on my desk.

PS I was a Yank tourist. I ended up doing all of that because Driscoll allowed me to work to offset my keep. I met and worked with the best crowd I could ever be associated with. The food and cleanliness was tops. I am damned proud of what we served, given the budget allotment. We had a brilliant cook who knew how to throw onions and carrots onto a sheet pan and make pure flavor. He made oxtail soup that is the best I've ever tasted, an I have no clue how he did it. I've tried to replicate it.

What lovely memories dmc, as I have said on here before, my sister stayed there when it was an original hostel for respectable working women in the 50's, pity we were all so poor no one had a camera to record the interior before mr.driscoll took over.

ITV ARE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON SOUTHWARK’S LOCAL HISTORY – CAN YOU HELP?


Building on the phenomenal success of ITV and the British Museum’s 2012 series Britain’s Secret Treasures, ITV Studios have commissioned a further landmark history series to count down the most surprising and secret homes across the country – this time in conjunction with English Heritage.

These homes, many still lived in by members of the public, have all born witness to discoveries, events and happenings that have changed the course of our history and shaped who we are today.

This 9pm series will be presented by Michael Buerk and Bettany Hughes with a host of high profile additional presenters telling the stories of homes which have a relevance to them.

We are looking for information on anyone who may have lived in Driscoll House, 172 New Kent Road, London (now ‘Rest Up’ hostel).

Driscoll House (formally Ada Lewis House) was opened in 1913 by Ada Lewis to provide low-waged single women with accommodation. If you know someone, perhaps a family member or friend who lived in Ada Lewis House, ITV want to hear from you as soon as possible!

Please contact Louisa Gilbert

E: [email protected]

8th Floor, London Television Centre, Upper Ground, SE1 9LT

louigilb It appears the lady from ITV requesting info has been sacked. Was there a program made?

Jan the old one, I have compiled a load of photos taken within and outside of Driscoll over the years, and finally found the negatives of the photos I took whilst living there. Finding the negs is what led me back to this thread, actually.