12 Jul 2025
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This week: Steve Clarke, education officer at St Albans Cathedral, who can often be found dressing up as a medieval monk or King Offa, much to the delight of visiting schoolchildren.
What’s the first thing you do after you’ve woken up in the morning?
Decide whether to switch off my alarm!! I wake up to Eloise by The Damned, so am more than happy to let it play and play.
Do you remember your first kiss?
I don’t remember my last kiss, let alone my first…
CD, vinyl, download or streaming?
Vinyl. Every time. The feel of the record in your hands, the album artwork, the crackle of the stylus, the warmth of the sound… CD is OK too, but don’t get me started on the evils of download or streaming…
What TV did you watch as a child?
Our one. As the youngest child in the family, I was the remote control too…
Who is your favourite St Albans musician or band?
Deaf Shepherd are (were?!) a cracking covers ban, I spent many happy hours listening to them in various pubs in St Albans. Steve Townsend is a legend!!
Where would be your preferred place locally to get married?
I was lucky enough to get married at the Cathedral – it doesn’t get much better than that! Although tying the knot in the old Roman Theatre would’ve been pretty cool…
What’s your favourite St Albans pub?
It would have to be the Lower Red Lion – great beer, very friendly staff and a lovely, traditional building. Although, at £1.99 a pint, the Waterend Barn gets a very honourable mention. The Jolly Sailor is also a special pub to me. It was my local for many years and I’ve spent many happy at time watching football whilst enjoying a bargain priced Jolly Burger.
How long would you survive a zombie apocalypse?
A matter of minutes. Because, unlike Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead, I wouldn’t risk damaging any of my vinyl by using them as defensive missiles.
If you had a time machine, what year would you choose to visit and why?
I would travel back to 300AD to see if the story of St Alban happened as we tell it now. Did the River Ver really stop flowing? Did the executioners eyeballs really fall out? Was Alban really the first Christian Saint and Martyr in Britain? As someone who works at the Cathedral, it might cause a few problems if we had to change the narrative…
Most inspirational St Albans person – living or dead?
My dad. He was born in Bricket Wood in the 1930s, went to Sunday School at the Abbey; attended Townsend School; returned to the Abbey as a Sunday School teacher; had his first job at a company in London Road; got ordained at the Abbey, and is now buried there too. His work ethic, kindness, compassion and moral integrity were truly inspiring.
