Sat 15th May - Day 29, Buttington to Selattyn (20 miles)

After a clear night it was once again a cloudy start. The 10 miles in the morning were all low level with the path following a short section of the Shropshire Union Canal then alongside the River Severn before turning off to Four Crosses, from here the path was back alongside the Shropshire Union Canal System as far as Llanymynech.

As this was my last day on Offa's Dyke I treated myself to a pub lunch here. After leaving the pub I sat on a bench to untie my sticks from the rucsac (I have to tie them up when I am not walking because I have left them behind twice now) when another walker sat on the bench next to me to have his lunch, a banana. After chatting for a while he donated £5 & said, as he was leaving, 'That was an expensive banana'.

The 10 miles of the afternoon were another series of hills & vales through farmland & woodland.
I watched an acrobatic display by 2 squirrels as they leapt & bound through the trees to get from one side of the road to the other.

Just up the hill outside the village of Nantmawr the path goes through Jones Rough, a small woodland owned by Shropshire Wildlife Trust, noted for the pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly.

The sun came out just before I reached my destination for the night, Carreg-y-big Farm near Selattyn. It was a very enjoyable day.

I had intended to continue along the Dyke to Chirk and follow the Maelor Way but before I left Orkney decided it looked too complicated to follow on the map, so I had a change of route and would leave Offa's Dyke slightly earlier and aim to pick up the Shropshire Canals instead, I hope it would be a wise decision!

So this is the end of stage 3, there may not have been much sunshine the last few days but, aside from long wet grass, it has been good walking weather, and an easy path to follow.

Well that is 4 weeks I have been going now and I'm still not halfway, I look forward to the psychological 550 mile mark!!!

474 miles completed.