27 Nov 2025
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This week: Ted Hill MBE, who served as a St Albans district councillor from 1999 to 2004, and as Commanding Officer of St Albans Sea Cadets and Hertfordshire District Officer (SCC – RNR). He has just published his debut novel: Alban of Verulamium – Britannia’s First Saint, which is inspired by his hometown’s rich heritage.
Where do you walk when you want to think?
I now live in Hamble and we have fantastic walks along the coast and in the country. Gives me lots of thinking time when not clearing up after the dog.
Do you ever Google yourself?
Yes, I have, and it’s surprisingly entertaining. Ted Hill, it seems, is not a rare name. I share it with a US mathematician (definitely not me) and a Bath Rugby flanker (also not me, I played at hooker). I even booked a restaurant recently, and I could practically hear the waiter’s disappointment when he realised I wasn’t the Ted Hill he’d been imagining, no biceps, no equations, just me.
Where do you most like to have a picnic in St Albans?
Without question it’s Verulamium Park.
What TV did you watch as a child?
Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Space 1999, Minder.
Which three people, living or dead, would be your ideal dinner party guests?
Lord Horatio Nelson, Ted Hill (rugby player) and Alban of Verulamium of course.
What object would you save first if your house was on fire?
Assuming Maggie, my better half, would rescue herself, it would have to be Eric, our dog.
What’s your worst habit?
I have a morbid fear of being late, so I habitually arrive ridiculously early – for everything, much to my family’s eternal irritation, as they’ve learned to expect me hovering awkwardly like a confused time traveller.
Were you well behaved at school?
Yes, very much so, did not get into any trouble at all???!!!
Have you ever asked for an autograph?
Yes! My very first literary effort was A Very Firm Handshake: a fundraiser for Wetwheels Hamble. I had a copy of the book on the raffle stall, and the winner practically chased me around the fair begging for my autograph – suddenly I felt like a slightly less glamorous celebrity on the run.
What’s your favourite meal?
I bloody love a Harvester – Harvester 83 Combo.
