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Monday 18th June 2007
Crickheath to Stretton
The forecast for today was decidedly poor and we were soon wearing waterproofs to keep out the worst of the weather. Within the hour it was showing signs of clearing and for the rest of the morning
the weather stayed kind for us. We were now back in England and cycling towards the city of Shrewsbury following the valley of the River Severn. It was midmorning when we cycled over the footbridge and into the centre of the town, stopping in the park to answer one of the BCQ (British Cycle Quest) questions set by the CTC. We then had a tea break and purchased our baguettes for lunch before making our way back to the river to follow the cycle path eastwards towards Wellington. 
In the town we came across this unusual timbered building with an upside down crocodile - what is the story behind this? The river Severn in Shrewsbury does a big loop around the centre of the town. We found the river again and assumed that we were on the eastern side of the town. We were in fact on the western side of the town and heading in completely the wrong direction "up" the river. We soon realised our error and turned round to pass under same footbridge that we had arrived over, and carried on downstream in the direction of Wellington following the cycle track alongside the river until the outskirts of the town.
We gave Wellington a miss, using the cycle track around the bypass to make faster progress. The reason for this was partly the fact that very dark clouds were appearing on the horizon. At the end of the bypass we nearly decided to shelter under a bridge as by now the clouds were overhead and looked very threatening. We kept going for another mile and then the heavens opened. Fortunately 
we were close to some shops which had a roof jutting out over the pavement, so we hurriedly took shelter and watched the rain lashing down and the puddles growing and the streams begin to develop along the road. 
After 45 mins the worst was over so we donned waterproofs and made our way to Lilleshall Abbey, a very grand ruins now, which was built in the 12th and 13th centuries It was still raining so we didn't spend much time there other than to take a few photos.
Our destination at Stretton was not far away now. Stretton is a very small village near to the A5 not far from where it crosses the M6 motorway. We were a sad wet sight when we arrived at the B&B and knocked on the door. The lady that answered appeared not to have remembered that we were coming - we didn't feel exactly welcome. "I am busy at the moment - can you come back in 20 mins when I have had chance to change the sheets on the beds?" We oblidged - but tonight of all nights we needed that hot shower as soon as possible. Returning a little later the situation had improved and the welcome was a little warmer. It is a good job she had stone floors downstairs and somewhere to hang up wet clothes as we were leaving pools behind us! The shower just dribbled hot water out, the bath wasn't much better, but at least we were warm and dry. The house was very old with antique furniture in many of the rooms. The only reading material in our bedroom was "The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells - the ultimate reference book for the magical arts". 'I wonder how you stop it raining?' Method one required some part of the female anatomy that we didn't have access to, and we didn't have the ingredients for the two remaining methods! Suffice it to say that we survived the night in this house only being attacked once by a giant hornet bigger than any we had ever seen before.
The mileage for today was 56.5 miles making a total of 139.6 miles.