Compound nouns time & distance

from http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com.ar/
Today we are going to take a look at using expressions of time, distance,
money etc when we use a number with a noun, before another noun, for
example:
ten + minute + walk
There are two basic patterns we can use:
- functioning as an adjective before a noun and modifying that noun:
It takes ten minutes to walk there
It's a ten-minute walk.
The holiday is for two weeks
We're going for a two-week holiday
Your hike was fifty miles
This fifty-mile hiking trip you went on, what was it like?
It was five metres to the ground
It was a five-metre drop to the ground.
I've lost five pounds
Have you seen my five-pound note?
In this case, the noun signifying a measure of time, distance, amount, weight
etc, is used in the singular. Note: the use of hyphens - when used
adjectivally like this before another noun, we usually put a hyphen between the
number and the first noun.
- when talking about time or distance, we can also use the number + noun
expression as part of a compound noun, in which case they are used in the
possessive form with an apostrophe. It's really just a more natural way of
saying of:
a week's break = a break of a week
a mile's walk = a walk of a mile
a stone's throw = the throw of a stone
This construction is also used in some idiomatic expressions:
They live very nearby
They only live a stone's throw away

We only just missed it

We missed by a hair's breadth
If the number is one or less, or ends in a fraction (a half, a quarter) etc, the unit
of measure is in the singular and is followed by 's.
It's only half-an-hour's drive.
He was given a week's wages (one week's wages).
She's taken a week-and-a-half's break off work
It's a mile's walk (one mile's walk) from here.
There's half-a-metre's width between the two walls.
It was a kilometre-and-a-half's walk to the nearest bus stop.
If the number is greater than one, the unit of measure is in the plural and is
followed by an apostrophe:
It's five hours' drive from here.
(a drive of five hours)
We'll be back in two weeks' time.
(a time of two weeks)
It's five miles' walk from here.
(a walk of five miles)
It's ten metres' drop to the ground.
(a drop of ten metres)
Notice these expressions with a couple, a few etc
It's a couple of minutes' walk from the station.
There'll probably be a few minutes' wait before he can see us.
We really only use money expressions like this with the noun worth (see next
section):
Can you give me a pound's worth (one pound's worth), please.
I bought five pounds' worth of goods.
It was a good ten dollars' worth.