Who can remember buying clothes at East London's Mister Byrite chain, or shoes at the household name that was Freeman Hardy Willis? In 1981 the High Road was a busy thoroughfare lined with national chain stores and famous local brands. A feature which has remained constant through the years is the architecture of the buildings above the former shoe shop, which were once home to the Ilford Recorder newspaper. The surroundings however has seen plenty of change in the past 40 years...