THE poor condition of the boys' playground at Lickey End School in Bromsgrove was singled out for special mention in an inspectors' report on local schools. It said the playground should be given a hard surface as ashes were unsuitable. Generally of the schools examined, scholarly standards were good, as was discipline and obedience, especially among the girls. The whooping cough epidemic and sickness among staff had caused Catshill Infants' School to close, which had had a serious impact on the children's education.

LIFE was to get tougher for paupers at Bromsgrove workhouse. The ruling Board of Guardians had decided that the men's tobacco allowance of an ounce a week should be halved. It had also been decided that able bodied men aged over 60, whose own fault it was that they were in the house, should be put on a plain and frugal' diet in order that the institution did not become a refuge for wastrels.' However not all the guardians were in agreement. Some of them claimed that tobacco was something given to inmates as a reward for work done.

WORK on the Sabbath was generally frowned upon, but an experiment to use two or three council employees for a few hours to water the dusty main roads in and around Bromsgrove was to be welcomed. The increasing use of motor vehicles was the main cause of the problem, which often made living near busy roads intolerable.

GEORGE Stewart, aged 30, a clerk, was sentenced to nine months' hard labour by the judge at the Easter Quarter Sessions at Worcester's Shirehall for obtaining money from doctors and clergy in Droitwich by sending them begging letters. The jury heard that Stewart, who was described as an incorrigible rogue and a vagabond', had tried to hang himself while awaiting trial.

THERE was good news for poor folk living in Catshill, Rubery, Lickey End and Staple Hill. Thanks to a group of women with good intentions, led by lady Chavasse from Barnt Green who had raised a sum of money by public subscription, they now enjoyed the services of a district nurse. Experienced nurse Emmerson, who came all the way from Newcastle, had been found a house in Lydiate Ash from which to work.