The Old Boy‘s comment avatar, Alec Guinness as George Smiley in ‘Smiley’s People’

This afternoon.

Veteran Broadsheet commenter The Old Boy writes:

‘There is little left to say beyond what others have put better than I ever could, but then it was ever thus. I admit that I was surprised by the jolt of emotion I felt when I learned that Broadsheet would soon cease to be. It has been some time since I made regular contributions to the comment sections of this parish but I have kept a regular, if occasionally weary, eye on proceedings.

‘To all the other denizens I have had exchanges with over the past decade or so, farewell. I hold fond memories of so many, although I have never to my knowledge met any of you. I have conjured in my mind’s eye so many lives being well-lived, merely through what I can glean from a few lines of commentary. It is a sobering thought that once the link of Broadsheet has been severed, I shall hear of you no more.

‘To Bodger and former colleagues, comrades and contributors, I extend my thanks and gratitude. For many years and precious little thanks, you ran a site that was for me nothing less than essential reading. How distant are those lazy, hazy days the days when “century” threads were most usually provoked by the tricky topic of cycling, or referenda that have since passed once-monumental provisions into and out of the Constitution? Nuggets of seriously thorough investigative journalism sat jovially alongside things that look like Ireland. I enjoyed every minute of it, even if I often kept my head below the parapet.

Farewell to you all.’

Pic: BBC