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Articles by William Byford

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About William Byford

A partner in an international firm of loss adjusters, William is a keen blogger and member of the internet community. More Posts

Perfection – or glorious uncertainty?

Yesterday sports editor Tom Hollingworth posted an early-morning instant personal reaction to the impact of that super-typhoon Hagibis had wreaked upon the hitherto admirable smooth running of the 2019 Rugby World Cup even before it had hit land. Having, like all good and true followers begun my [...]

October 11, 2019 // 0 Comments

Another day goes by

Scenes from family life, part 17: Last Sunday after lunch I sat in front of the television with my aged father and others to watch the England rugby team’s international friendly match with Wales, one of those ‘try-out’ games leading up to the Rugby World Cup which begins next month in Japan. [...]

August 15, 2019 // 0 Comments

Fighting against the odds

In its observations upon the 21st Century the Rust community regularly reports upon the travails faced by senior citizens in coping with the modern world, not least the manner in which younger generations seem to be able to assimilate the blizzard of new ‘facilitating’ technological solutions [...]

August 7, 2019 // 0 Comments

Who are we – and what are we doing here?

Beginning my daily review of the news websites this morning I was still reflecting upon last night’s Channel Four documentary Moon Landing Live broadcast at 8.00pm which I happened to watch in the company of a forty-nine year lady and my son Barry who is thirty-seven. It was a fascinating [...]

July 21, 2019 // 0 Comments

A touch of reality

The issues involved in the ageing process – and just mortality generally – are strange topics because of course from time to time they naturally affect us all and yet simultaneously, the human race being what it is, they’re ones that day to day we tend to (or try to anyway) completely ignore [...]

June 26, 2019 // 0 Comments

An alien drops in

Over the weekend my son Barry made one of his fleeting but intense visits to Blighty – in recent years an average of maybe two per annum – and so over dinner on Friday night we had the opportunity for a bit of a catch-up. Having just completed a transatlantic voyage with a handpicked crew of [...]

June 10, 2019 // 0 Comments

Coming to terms with it – and life

There is little more calculated to slap you in the face with reminders of your age and mortality than family gatherings – and I mean that in both a good and a bad way. Last weekend I attended the wedding of a niece – inevitably a joyous and chaotic occasion as these always are – at which, at [...]

April 16, 2019 // 0 Comments

A blight upon the Earth

I trust it would not be wholly outrageous if I was to posit that I am no more and no less than an ordinary human being in that I probably harbour a range of subconscious prejudices against all manner of things and people in addition to those I openly admit. In which context let me proclaim that my [...]

April 9, 2019 // 0 Comments

A scene from modern life (Number 26)

It naturally comes with the territory that we oldies have to contend with occasional but increasing ‘senior moments’ – e.g. failing to find things where you thought you left them; doing one thing and then getting interrupted by something else and not being able to remember what the first [...]

April 3, 2019 // 0 Comments

Reflections upon a giant

Earlier this month on this organ fellow Ruster Henry Elkins posted a thought-provoking review of Andrew Roberts’ biography Churchill: Walking with Destiny (Allen Lane, £35), see here – NATIONAL RUST A week or so later I called him to salute his effort because by chance last December I had [...]

March 24, 2019 // 0 Comments

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