When Gates Corner Was A Corner

A Memory of South Woodford.

Lived in South Woodford with my parents from 1952-1972 before marrying, and worked for Gates in this very building from 1968-1977 before moving up the High Road to their new Head Office when this building caught fire overnight, the new 8-lane A406 Nth.Circular having already scythed its way through the heart of Woodford, ending 'Gates Corner' forever.
From 1975-1977 the motorway was driven through under our very noses, beginning with the endless pile-driving of what were to become the supports for this part of the High Road over the new A406. What a noisy summer that was - and a very hot one the following year ('76) when temperatures soared and even the nearby Hollow Ponds in Wanstead dried up !
As we lived just down the road from here in Woodford Green we also watched the southern end of the M11 taking shape just half-a-mile away. Then, where it connected with the new ultra-wide A406 going up to Gates Corner, Charlie Brown's roundabout was changing shape and was never going to be the same again - almost becoming Woodford's own Spaghetti Junction !
As for this picture - was Woodford ever really this quiet !