27 Mar 2023
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This time: County council chairman and former St Albans Mayor Annie Brewster.
Do you speak any foreign languages?
I accompanied a St Albans Mayor to our Twin Town in France, Nevers. He spoke no French so, listening to my efforts at lunch, thought I was fluent. He later went on stage and gave a long speech in English and told the audience I would translate. Suffice to say, I said something very different from him much to the amusement of the English speaking guests.
Do you have any phobias?
Acrophobia – a fear of falling – not helpful when inviting prospective sponsors onto the highest roof of the Museum+Gallery during its construction.
Have you ever asked for an autograph?
I was playing in the Mail on Sunday golf tournament for Harpenden Golf Club, only to find the England Football Team in the same Manchester hotel the night David Beckham scored THAT free kick last-gasp equaliser against Greece to send England into the 2002 World Cup. Beckham added a number ‘7’ to his autograph.
Which three people, living or dead, would be your ideal dinner party guests?
Boudicca to find out what actually happened to her after she destroyed Roman Verulamium, Stephen Hawking to discover how his teacher at St Albans school, Dikran Tahta, inspired his sense of wonder and curiosity in maths and Britain’s first Saint, St Alban, so we could tell him all about the city named after him.
If you could travel back in time and offer your younger self some advice, what would it be?
Stand up to bullies you have encountered who are actually weak, make dreams then work hard to fulfil them, focus on getting up when you are knocked down and surround yourself with people who make you want to be your best self.
What’s your favourite meal?
An eight course Christmas tasting menu I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago created by Oaklands College students at their on-campus open plan restaurant called The Stables. It was absolutely fabulous. Delighted to learn the restaurant is open to the public.
Which day of your life would you most like to relive?
Were I to pick one of over eight hundred Mayoral engagements it would be ‘Sandridge 900’. I was invited to ride a very excited horse called Scooby from Sandridge to St Peter’s Church. Buses had to give way to horsepower in the middle of the city.
When have you been most scared?
As a young teenager staying with our neighbour when our parents went away for a night. Waterend House, a fine Jacobean residence near Wheathampstead, was once home to Sarah Churchill and we had been told it was haunted. My sister and I shared a giant four-poster bed. When some soot fell down the chimney into the fireplace in our bedroom, we clung on to each other for the rest of the night.
What’s your favourite hidden gem in the district?
I am calling it hidden as visitors to our city centre can miss it due to the topography and layout of St Albans. Our incredible Cathedral. Longest Nave in Britain, recycled slim Roman bricks salvaged from Verulamium used to construct the Norman Tower and rare medieval wall paintings recently brought to life by clever projection. One sees something new on every visit.
Most inspirational St Albans person – living or dead?
The philanthropist, Samuel Ryder, who was the Mayor of St Albans in 1905 and who started the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament, now one of the biggest events in the world. He was dedicated to the community of St Albans supporting charities for the poor, the elderly and charities linked to the war effort. He even held fundraising garden fetes and concerts at his home, Marlborough House.
