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Tuesday 19th June 2007
Stretton to Hinckley
The weather promises to be much better today.
No ghostly experiences in the night, so after breakfast we make our way through Penkridge and onto Cannock Chase. The picture shows a half-timbered building in the centre of Penkridge. There was quite a long climb up onto The Chase but almost before we knew it we were at the top and beginning to make the descent down into Rugeley. The effects of cycling over the last three days were beginning to take their toll, so when we found a coffee shop in the middle of Rugeley with soft relaxing armchairs it was too good an opportunity to miss!
After the tea break we made out way towards Barton-under-Needwood which is in the Trent valley. A delicatessen here provided our filled baguettes for lunch, which we packed away for eating later. 
The next village of Walton-on-Trent is the other side of the river, and it was immediately evident how much rain had been falling in the last 48 hours. The picture shows the fields on the side of the river.
In the next village of Coton-in-the-Elms we stopped for lunch - no armchairs here, and no park benches. We camped on the village green watching the world go by - but not much of it did! We were now almost in familiar territory. This area is about the limit of where we go for day rides from Hinckley. We knew we had one big hill left to climb at Orton-on-the-Hill and we weren't looking forward to it! When it eventually loomed in front of us we knew instantly that it was going to win - so we gave up and walked almost from the bottom. The view from the top is magnificent. You can see as far as Sutton Coldfield to the west and Burton upon Trent to the North west. And so to home - we were more tired today than any previous day, and glad to put our feet up for a well deserved rest.
The mileage for today was 48.9 miles making a total of 188.5 miles.