Redesigning this Website

The front of Lake Vyrnwy Dam

In 2008, Polly and I stayed in a country cottage in North Wales while our bathroom was refurbished. It was in the middle of nowhere, close to Oswestry. I took the photos on this page during that trip. In the 1880s, a large dam was built across the upper reaches of the River Vyrnwy to create Lake Vyrnwy. The lake supplies water to Liverpool.

This post is the first in a series about redesigning my website. Each post will feature photos taken during the trip.

I started this website back in late 2024.

I started it for several reasons: I wanted to learn more about writing a website; I wanted somewhere to show my photos; I wanted to see if I could write (it seems I can). I started out wanting to publish a photo every day. That proved difficult. So, back in early 2025, it morphed into my journal. I wrote about this here.

Since then, I’ve written lots of posts.

I’m pleased with the way it’s turned out.

I’ve even added a few new features along the way.

I’ve lots of ideas for moving it forward. A big problem is that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to implement them. The website is written with the Jekyll website generator (it’s open source and therefore free). Jekyll works well for a simple website, but not for a more complex one. I’m hitting too many limitations.

Earlier this year, I decided to write my own website generator. It’s an interesting project, given my love of programming. A big, big problem is that writing it is taking up a lot of my time, even though I’m retired. I doubt that it’ll be finished until late next year.

Earlier this month I realised that I need to stop writing it. This will give me more time for other things: keeping my journal up to date; more photography; more travelling; more reading and listening to music; studying maths again; getting my legs back into shape by walking more.

It was a difficult decision; I was enjoying writing it.

But how do I add the new features I’m thinking about?

I could write my own Jekyll add-ons to implement those features. A big problem is that I’d have to learn Ruby, a programming language I have no intention of learning. Also, it seems that Jekyll is no longer in development.

So I researched open-source website generators again and came across one I’d not seen before: Astro. I found a blog post by someone using Jekyll, who was also fed up with its limitations. Like me, he decided the best way forward was to write his own. While thinking about this, he found Astro and realised that it would work for him. It seemed to be a good omen to me.

I’ve just spent the last week checking it out, and it’s looking good, very good.

I’m not sure it does everything I want, but you can add to the code. Unlike Jekyll, the programming language is Microsoft’s TypeScript. I already know a little about the language. It’s one I would really like to learn. It can also be used to write JavaScript for a website.

So, I’m going to migrate my journal to Astro. As I do this, I’ll add new features and tweak the design along the way.

I reckon this will take until Christmas. I’ll write about my progress over the coming months. I’ll also have a test version of the website so you can see how the redesign unfolds.

So, next year I’ll have more time for other things.

The back of Lake Vyrnwy Dam