ONCE a month for the past 20 years, come rain or shine, Barry Palmer of Chapel Lawn has trudged the highways and bye-ways of the Redlake Valley delivering the Parish Magazine and local ‘Redlake’ newsletter.

But now, with a little persuasion from Mrs Palmer, he has decided to hang up his boots. By one calculation, Mr Palmer has walked over 2,000 miles and delivered over 10,000 magazines! Although it wasn’t the Wrekin that Barry regularly circumnavigated, the hills were certainly steep, and at times the valleys almost impassable. Grateful residents chipped in to an impromptu ‘Palmer Gin Fund’ and presented an unsuspecting Mr Palmer with a bottle of ‘Wrekin Alpine Gin.’