24 Dec 2024
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This week: Stephen De Silva, educator and guide at St Albans Cathedral, and author of the recently published book St Albans Cathedral: A Timeline.
Where do you walk when you want to think?
A walk along the seashore is perfect – but not in Hertfordshire, of course. My English roots are in Dorset, so maybe there. If no coastline is available then it would have to be on some beautiful National Trust estate.
CD, vinyl, download or streaming?
Increasingly streaming but I do have a lot of obscure stuff on CD (regional Azorean music, anyone?) that still gets an outing from time to time.
What TV did you watch as a child?
I was born and grew up in Bermuda in the ‘50s and ’60s, where TV was mostly American imports. So, it was Lassie, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, I Love Lucy etc – although from the UK we did get Andy-Pandy, and The Flower Pot Men.
Who is your favourite St Albans musician or band?
I am showing my age again on this one – Maddy Prior and Steeleye Span.
What is your favourite single item of clothing?
A long-gone seersucker, blue/white pinstripe jacket from the 1980s – absolutely loved it and I found a similar one to replace it in a sale recently – roll on next summer.
Have you ever had a nickname?
When I first came to St Albans, my pupils at Verulam School called me “The Big D” because I’m only 5’5” and insisted on having my surname spelt correctly: ‘De’ not ‘de’. At least I didn’t have to teach them the meaning of the word ‘satire’.
Dogs or cats?
Love both but it’s been cats for most of my adult life. My current boss-lady is called Lucia and she is a calico rescue from Dubai, via a great charity called Homes in the UK for Desert Paws. I got her during lockdown when, believe it or not, it was OK to go to Heathrow to collect a cat but not to drive to any rescue centres outside St Albans.
Do you speak any foreign languages?
No, and I so wish I had learned Portuguese (my father’s heritage language) when I was a child and it was still spoken daily by my grandparents. My partner and I love Portugal and it would be so useful.
What’s your favourite place to have breakfast in St Albans?
George Street Canteen, especially if the sun is shining and you can sit outside.
If you had a time machine, what year would you choose to visit and why?
1115 – December 28 in St Albans Abbey to be precise. The Norman builders have finally added all their finishing touches. King Henry I and Queen Matilda are in St Albans for the grand ceremonial dedication of the building. I’d like to be one of the monks so that I could have had a good view of the proceedings.
