Wolverhampton's new £70,000 cattle market, covering a one-and-a-half acre site between Cleveland Road and Bilston Road, was opened in March.

Special checks were made to ensure that the ratepayers were getting good value for their investment.

The new market included a 6,000 sq ft lairage for cattle with an asbestos roof.

The cattle would move through enclosed gangways to spacious slaughter halls and the latest system of weighing had been introduced following the slaughter process.

The carcases could then be run direct to the meat market via electric hoists.

Tramps plead for some veg: Tramps in Bridgnorth were fed-up with being given bread and cheese for dinner seven days a week at the local workhouse in February.

They needed green vegetables and onions to improve their diet, the Bridgnorth Guardians were told at their meeting.

A letter was read to members from a local health inspector who said he understood that "casuals" in the area suffered from an insufficiency of green vegetables.

He stressed that the Guardians should serve the men green vegetables and onions.

It was also mentioned at the meeting that there was no truth in a claim that a smallpox epidemic was responsible for the bad physical condition of the tramps.

The clerk reported that as a result of his appeal against an assessment of the workhouse, the gross had been reduced from £412 to £300, and the rated value from £340 to £247.

An array of corsets show the latest fashions in 1929 at The Corset House in Wolverhampton's Dudley Street Arcade.

If you want to get ahead . . . A host of interesting new materials were being unleashed on West Midlands women in the run up to Easter on the millinery scene.

Matching scarves were being used by a large number of models and one of the top fashions was a hat carried out in fine navy felt, set of with a supple oyster coloured straw in the style of Bangkok, but softer. The scarf to match was in crepe-de-chine.

Price rise hits bus services: A threatened rise of four pence per gallon in the price of petrol in March would result in Wolverhampton having to find an extra £15,000 a year to keep its buses on the road, the town was warned.

The Corporation Transport Department chiefs said the department would be seriously affected financially, and in the development of certain services.

The price rise meant that services started in the Bradmore, Fallings Park, The Fighting Cocks and other areas would have to be curtailed - or the fares increased.

Tours and transport vehicles would also be hit.

Roof collapse buries three miners: Three terrified miners were buried alive in Brereton Collieries in Rugeley, in February under a massive weight of coal and debris. They were entombed following a roof collapse in one of the workings.

Their cries for help were heard by miners in a neighbouring area who rushed to their aid. The three, an under-manager and two overmen, had just completed an inspection of a part of the mine when the roof collapsed, burying two victims entirely and leaving the third with just his head showing.

One man escaped with bruising to his legs and feet, while the second suffered severe injuries and the third was not too badly hurt.