Banbury long stay moorings

Or it seems that way. Because it’s a little bit out of town it’s a little less popular and people tend to squeeze and extra week or so out of it. I like it. And that’s what important.

Mooring at Southam Road, Banbury
Mooring at Southam Road, Banbury

In the winter it can be very muddy. It’s not winter anymore. Today is set to be the hottest May day ever, so not much mud.

It’s a nice spot. The reservoir is over the field at the back. It’s about a mile to walk around the perimeter. If I fancy a walk during the day, I go over there.

Grimsbury Reservoir on a sunny day
Grimsbury Reservoir on a sunny day

The devil will find work

For idle hands to do. I haven’t. Found work that is. There’s been at least 3 instances where I’ve been offered paid work after an interview, then the people haven’t got back to me. I’ve got to assume this is normal, as it has been in the past.

I’ve had to find alternative areas of pursuit to spend my day. I don’t have to claim JSA anymore. That only lasts 6 months. The government means test and currently I have too much savings to be eligible for any help. At all. It just means I don’t have to apply for dead end jobs I don’t really want to do. That used to take some time, but was fruitless, in the end.

I’ve been programming an offshoot of my site using AI, namely (Gemini and Claude Code). The level of knowledge and expertise at your fingertips is undoubtedly game changing from a programming perspective. I’ve been programming in PHP, HTML, CSS and Javascript. Previously, I’ve worked with all but Javascript which I found to be complex and unwieldy to the eye. The level of complexity is way in excess of what I’ve been able to program myself in the past and simply has the effect of making sites seem intuitive, light and functional.

There are some caveats: AI isn’t always correct. There have been numerous times where it’s removed hours, even days worth of code in the name of making a page render, or ‘work’. It continuously forgets what tasks it’s performed in the past on your behalf.

Sometimes, AI just flat gets it wrong and starts looping through the incorrect set of conclusions over and over again. That’s why I use 2, Gemini and Claude Code. Claude Code is possibly a bit better, but has certain drawbacks like a very stingy usage limit for non-paying customers.

Programming AI is a little like teaching, if it doesn’t understand what you’re saying, you need to give it the same information but phrased in a different way. A way it can understand. Phrasing and re-phrasing until it comes up with the correct answer.

Perhaps you can have a look at a preliminary program I’ve made.

Forge of Empires – Ascended buildings checker

It’s for a tablet game I play called Forge of Empires.

If you play this game you’ve be familiar with the concept, pretty meaningless if you don’t. It runs on a database and some very simple queries that run to parse a page uploaded by a user.

I actually need to do some re-jigging of my environment, (in-game), and whilst I’m on the dole, I’ve decided to build an AI tool to do it for me.

Once it’s up and running, I’ll post it on here and you can have a look at it.

I enjoy programming. It takes patience, attention to detail, creativity, plus it gives a great sense of achievement – when you get things working!

Boat moving

Between Cropredy and Banbury.

Some nice person has left some knitwear on the locks.

Continue reading “Banbury long stay moorings”

Here… near Cropredy

Not quite in the village as yet. Located out in the wilds.

Life is very quite here. I have the geese. The fields. The cows and the crows.

Varney's lock - Oxford canal
Varney’s lock – Oxford canal

There’s the odd boater who stops beyond the bridge and the odd boater that stops with me here, before the locks.

There’s a fair bit of traffic coming through. That’s through from the marina, Cropredy Marina or the locks. Claydon.

A few every day. Weekends more busy.

It’s very peaceful here.

Fenny Compton - Tunnels
Fenny Compton – Tunnels

I actually moved down four weeks ago, but due to time restraints and some technical problems, haven’t got round to writing and uploading.

Fenny to Cropredy

Although people stop in between. It doesn’t appeal personally, to little mobile and solar. No roads. No shops. No nothing… Better to enjoy passing through…

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Bonnie Journey – Cosgrove to Fenny Compton (44 Miles)

Taking overnight stays in Gayton, Norton Junction and Napton along the way!

Moored at Grand Union Iron Trunk Aqueduct
Moored at Grand Union Iron Trunk Aqueduct about 100 yards from the aqueduct itself.

Back out in the sticks

Spring is here. At least in theory.

Whilst my stay around Milton Keynes, in the winter, was fine. It’s really not somewhere I’d continue to add my patronage to.

The idea of the boat, as I see it, is to provide the luxury of modern living detached from civilization, which it does quite well.

Milton Keynes is one of the biggest social housing projects in Europe. Although they throw trees, parks, shops and other attractions in, there’s no getting away from that fact.

I’m glad to be out of it and back out in the sticks.

Cosgrove's Ironstone Bridge
Passing under Cosgrove’s Ironstone Bridge in spring

Day 1: Cosgrove to Gayton in the Fields

A bad day weather wise. Wind and hail. Not ideal.

Just one set of 7 locks to get through at Stoke Bruerne, and the tiny ‘stop-lock’ at Cosgrove.

A view across toward the River Tove - Cosgrove
A view across toward the River Tove – Cosgrove

As I came out of Cosgrove, the weather was a little sunny. This soon changed as I got underway, and by the time I’d got my fuel and was ready to get underway proper, the bad weather really set in.

Continue reading “Bonnie Journey – Cosgrove to Fenny Compton (44 Miles)”

[Video] Escaping Milton Keynes for the Iron Trunk Aqueduct

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Finding Serenity (and a Mooring Spot) at the aqueduct

There is a specific kind of peace found at the Iron Trunk Aqueduct (the Cosgrove Aqueduct) that you just don’t get inside the Milton Keynes city limits. Standing on this 19th-century cast-iron masterpiece, you’re literally suspended over the River Ouse, looking out over the Ouse Valley Park, maybe 100ft above the floodplains below.

While the towpath here offers some of the best views in Buckinghamshire, closer to the road is also a hotspot for “serial overstayers.”

In London, when CC’ers are about to move or find somewhere new, boaters swap mooring locations by agreement on Watsapp.

Good luck on finding a spot down there.

Highlights of the area:

  • The Structure: A rare example of a cast-iron trough aqueduct, a marvel of Regency-era engineering.
  • The Tunnel: Don’t miss the 1919 brick tunnel (the “Hobbit hole”) that lets you walk directly under the canal.
  • The Vibe: High-altitude views (for a boat!) and deep-countryside quiet.

[Video] Slithering Snake crosses road in Turkish mountains

Snake crosses road just before I cycle over it!

Unexpected Roadblocks in the Turkish Mountains When you are cycling through the stunning mountain passes of Turkey, you expect to see breathtaking views, tough gradients, and quiet roads. But sometimes, the local wildlife demands your attention instead. In this short, unedited clip, a rather large snake takes its sweet time slithering across the tarmac right in front of my bike.

Encounters like this are a thrilling reminder of how wild the Turkish countryside can be!