• St Swithun’s Way (1) Winchester to Alresford

    The first part of the St Swithun’s Way long-distance walk was disappointing. On the positive side I had a very pleasant bar-snack at the Cricketers pub in the lovely village (hamlet?) of Easton.

    The weather was supposed to be sunny, but there was none. My pictures are disappointing – I blame the lack of sunshine and the over-processing I’ve done to try to get something out of the images. The walk was disappointing, with a lot of road walking, mainly lanes, and it was uphill all the way!

    I’m going to reconsider doing the rest of the St Swithun’s Way long-distant path. ie The sections from Alresford to Alton and Alton to Farnham.

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  • The 10:12 from Clapham Junction (reposted from 2019)

    Many times I’ve travelled on the 10:12 from Clapham Junction towards Southampton.

    In the last year of my mum’s life, when I had become fed up with the drive, I would catch this train to visit her in her care home. I’ve also used it to carry on beyond Southampton to Brockenhurst and eventually Lymington, one of my very favourite places. From Lymington you can walk or catch the little ferry to Hurst Castle, you can walk around the coastal path, and you can catch the larger ferry to the Isle of Wight. I love ferries, large and small.

    Over the past 12 months I’ve also caught the 10:12 in order to reach the starting points of the four sections of the Itchen Way walk – Southampton, Eastleigh, Winchester (twice).

    On most of these train trips, I’ve bought a coffee and KitKat from the on-board trolley service (I’m a creature of habit), and on most of these times I’ve been served by the same East-European lady with the lovely smile. And though I remember her, she probably doesn’t remember me.

    On Tuesday I set off to start the last leg of the Itchen Way walk. I was standing on the Clapham Junction platform, waiting for the 10:12, when an express, non-stopping train shot past, but with its hooter blaring. The next thing I know is that station staff are active, moving waiting passengers away from the platforms. Someone had jumped under the express train. Chaos followed as trains were suspended in order to deal with the emergency. I abandoned any thoughts of doing my walk. Two days later I tried again, this time without incident.

    I guess that forever, when standing waiting for the 10:12, I’ll spare a thought as the express train shoots through, for the person who had had enough.

    (The post image was AI generated from the post text – amazing!)

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  • I’ve been listening to Luca Stricagnoli

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  • A walk to Leatherhead

    A repeat of a 5-mile walk I did a couple of months back.

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  • Eastbourne

    I saw a man smoking a pipe. Who still does this?!

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  • My backgammon program

    My latest VB.NET program, to play the board game backgammon, is done (subject to fixes and further work!). It’s been through many, many iterations. I’m happy with the result despite more work needing to be put into improving game strategy. I’ll see. Here’s a video of a game.

    And here is a sample of the code….

    Module PlayFunctionsModule
    
        Public Function AbleToPlay(ND As Integer) As Boolean
            '
            ' See if there is any move that can be made with the current dice
            '
            If IIf(CurrentPlayer = Whois.human, HumanBlotCount, RobotBlotCount) > 0 Then
                If AbleToPlayBlot(ND) Then Return vbTrue Else Return vbFalse
            End If
            If AbleToPlayNormal(ND) Then
                Return vbTrue
            End If
            If InBearOffZone() And AbleToBearOff(ND) Then
                Return vbTrue
            End If
            Return vbFalse
        End Function
    
        Public Function AbleToPlayBlot(ND As Integer) As Boolean
            '
            ' See if there is a blot move that can be made with the current dice
            '
            Dim p, d As Integer
    
            If IIf(CurrentPlayer = Whois.human, HumanBlotCount, RobotBlotCount) > 0 Then
                For d = 1 To ND
                    p = Dice(d)
                    If PointOwner(p) = CurrentPlayer Or (PointValue(p) <= 1) Then
                        Return vbTrue
                    End If
                Next
                Return vbFalse
            End If
            Return vbFalse
        End Function
    
        Public Function AbleToPlayNormal(ND As Integer) As Boolean
            '
            ' See if there is a normal move that can be made with the current dice
            '
            Dim p, pTO, d As Integer
    
            For d = 1 To ND
                For p = 1 To nLandingPoints
                    If PointOwner(p) = CurrentPlayer Then
                        pTO = p + Dice(d)
                        If pTO <= nLandingPoints Then
                            If (PointOwner(pTO) = CurrentPlayer) Or (PointValue(pTO) <= 1) Then
                                Return vbTrue
                            End If
                        End If
                    End If
                Next
            Next
            Return vbFalse
        End Function
    
    End Module
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  • Book Links

    My favourite second-hand bookshops

    Dapdune Wharf book shedGuildford, Surrey
    (15 minute walk from Guildford station)
    https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk
    Kirkdale BookshopSydenham, South London
    (close to Sydenham station)
    https://kirkdalebookshop.com/about/
    Sam Beare BookshopWeybridge, Surrey
    (20 minute walk from Weybridge station)
    https://wsbh.org.uk/support-us/shop-with-us/find-local-charity-shop/weybridge-bookshop/
    FARA Teddington BooksTeddington, South-West London
    (10 minute walk from Teddington station)
    https://www.faracharity.org/shop/teddington-books/
    Morden Hall Park bookshopMorden, South London
    (20 minute walk from South Merton station, or 10 minute from Morden tube station)
    https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/london/morden-hall-park
    Mrs Lofthouse’s EmporiumScarborough, North Yorkshirehttps://www.mrslofthouse.co.uk/

    Some book links

    The Book GuideSecondhand and Antiquarian Bookshops in the UK and Republic of Irelandhttps://www.thebookguide.info/bookshops/
    The Book Guide (Facebook)Ditto (Facebook)https://www.facebook.com/thebookguide
    Charming Book Shop Cafes In LondonA magazine articlehttps://londonist.com/london/food-and-drink/book-shop-cafes-london
    Second Hand Bookshops In LondonA magazine articlehttps://londonist.com/london/books-and-poetry/buy-second-hand-books-shops-stalls-london-rare-antiquarian
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  • Black Bag

    An interesting spy movie with lots of dialogue and very little action. Despite struggling with making out some of the dialogue, I just about followed the tricksy plot. I enjoyed the film.

    A glass of Malbec and a packet of crisps in the Throwley Yard cinema bar, accompanied by a book, completed a pleasurable afternoon.

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  • I’ve been listening to…

    Luca Stricagnoli
    Lose Yourself
    David Bowie
    Where Are We Now
    GlobalSoundDownCorona FlashMob
    2025-03-08
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  • Sam Beare Bookshop, Weybridge

    Some interesting pre-owned books bought from the fabulous Sam Beare Bookshop, Weybridge, Surrey.

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