Chops and changes in butcher's 50 years

A butcher from Wolverhampton who remembers delivering meat to customers by bicycle is celebrating 50 years in the trade.

Now Colin Bates, who is semi-retiring, is handing his butcher's apron to his son Daniel who will be the fourth generation of the family to take on the business.

The 66-year-old meat man says the trade has changed considerably since he started helping out at his father Edwin's original shop in Green Lane, Claregate, as a 13-year-old Saturday boy.

During the war, when Edwin was stationed at Aldershot as a training instructor, Colin's grandmother Sophie Bates took over the running of the business.

The family opened a second shop in Pendeford Avenue in 1963 and another a few years later in Warstones Drive.

These were the golden days of the trade as meat became more plentiful and families could afford to eat it several times a week.