He was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and the Royal College of Music.
[2] That same year (1934), he conducted the world and broadcast premiere of A Boy Was Born by Benjamin Britten.
He conducted the Kentucky Minstrels, a popular singing group on BBC radio during and immediately after the War.
[3] On Palm Sunday, 25 March 1945, Woodgate led the BBC Chorus is the world premiere of Poulenc's wartime cantata Figure humaine for unaccompanied double chorus, which was sung in English.
[4] In 1946, he conducted the Wireless Chorus at a Henry Wood Promenade Concert in William Walton's Where Does the Uttered Music Go?