Were those of you that worked in and enjoyed the old tower more attached to the tower or the people that you worked with there? There experiences and good memories you have of the building are surely more related to the people and characters rather than the bricks, mortar and windows?

It was both for me. I recall looking longingly at the Tower when I was a spotter there in the late 50s and early 60s, but never ever believed that I would work there. When I did, it was like a dream come true! I loved the layout of the Tower and Approach rooms, especially when Approach was on the 6th floor. It just seemed a magical place to be. Once I trained and got to know everyone, they too became precious and I recall them all fondly now, some 20+ years after I left there.

I detest the look of the new tower so much that I have never tried to visit it, (assuming they would have even me that is!). It has no appeal to me at all but I hope that those employed there have as much fun as I and my ex-colleagues did in the old tower..

Does a great job of heating the patio though......

Seriously though, I preferred working in the old tower...yes it was cramped in the VCR, and the view was compromised, but actually controlling traffic in the old tower was more fun. GMC was significantly more complex than it is now, due to the taxiway layout, but was more intuitive with paper strips. Also, the cramped VCR layout was a benefit when things got busy because it was pretty easy to monitor the workload of those around you.

In the new VCR you're surrounded by screens and it is very easy to get sucked into tunnel vision concentrating on your own task, and in GMC it's no longer so easy to see how busy your colleagues are.

But then of course electronic strips brings a whole lot of benefits that a paper based system couldn't.

All the above IMHO of course.

Fair points all, I guess I just have never felt such an attachment to the towers I have worked in. I had a similar aim of working in my current regional airport's (is that how you described it Gonzo? :ok:) tower as HD from a young age and now I am working there love it but if they offered us a new sparkling shiny tower I think I'd quite happily wave goodbye to the creaking and banging and the temperamental heating system!

Mate, if you think a brand new shiny tower means they fix the heating problems then you'll be dreadfully disappointed!:}

Air-Britain : berry
I twisted Peter's arm to get these 15 photos put on the publicly viewable ABPIC site....in the photo albums of the Air-Britain members Yahoo Group 'ab-ix' he has several more albums including rare early colour at Farnborough.

I loved the way the old tower didn't need guy ropes to stop it falling over in a strong wind. :)

There's a variety of shots of LHR towers old and new on Air-Britain : heathrow tower

All I can see on Air Britain are mainly shots of aeroplanes - some of them mine.

"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone".

Joni Mitchell. 'Big Yellow Taxi'.

'Guy ropes'? Shirley they're fire escapes for when you can't use the lift! (A similar system was discussed in the planning stage for the present Farnborough tower - no seriously it was!)

Apologies Heathrow Director I should have said more precisely 'shots featuring the old towers and from the new tower'.....there is a shot of the redbrick one from the new one

ISTR that for the Heathrow new tower we were offered the following fire escape options:

Emergency high-speed lift.
Escape capsule on a guy wire á la Flash Gordon.
Inertia reel harness (which should stop when 6 inches from the concrete...).

You forgot the bungee ropes.

Gonvo:

I suspect that is the operative word. Ancient buildings don't have that awful material.

If it's riddled with asbestos, shouldn't there be a bit less of the structure open to the air during demolition?

"I guess the ghosts of the Captain and the Colonel will still be there long after the building has gone."

I haven't heard those stories Heathrow Director - do tell...

They were ATCOs on B Watch. Both much loved but no longer with us.

R.E Asbestos:
I seem to remember sometime in the eighties they removed a lot of it with men in white suits and lots of polythene - it all looked a bit like E.T.

I left England in 1962 bound for Australia on board a BOAC Comet 4. I have been back many times since, the last being in 2011, and once I caught sight of the red brick tower I knew I was home and all was well with the world. I guess next time it will be the Concorde at the round about..oh no wait it's a 380.