What is your favourite film?

Depending on my mood, The Talented Mr Ripley or Moulin Rouge.

If you could change one thing about the place where you live, what would it be?

I wish there was a university here.

What are you reading at the moment?

I always have two books on the go - at the moment I’m half-way through The Count of Monte Cristo and nearing the end of Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion.

What is your favourite word?

Right at the moment it has to be that planegrounding Icelandic volcano, Eyjafallajökull.

And your least favourite word?

No.

If you had one wish what would it be?

That our kind would default to using words before guns.

Is there a place in the world you would like to visit above all others?

The caves at Lascaux, but they are closed now; so, instead I’d like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

What do you wish you were good at?

Playing the violin – to be able to sit in an orchestral string section as well as fiddle the night away in a pub lock-in.

If you could meet anyone from history, who would it be?

Thomas Jefferson – his perspective on the remarkable times in which he lived would be incredible.

If you had a time machine where would it take you?

I’d emerge right in the midst of one of Jay Gatsby’s wild parties in the roaring 20s.

If you were stranded on a desert island what luxury would you choose to have with you?

A very full iPod and a solar recharger.

If you owned a company what kind of company would it be?

An architecture practice.

Tell us about a pet you own or would like to own.

I always wanted a tortoise when I was young, but now they aren’t allowed.

What would you never leave home without?

Having come to Salisbury from Manchester, I’ve yet to ditch the umbrella.

What was your first job?

Playing old standards on the piano for Betty’s Tearooms and for weddings while I was a student in York.

If you had a superpower which one would you want?

To be able to switch on the sun at will.

What worries you the most?

That pretty much everything about our lives today is unsustainable.

If you controlled taxes, what would you tax people on?

Anything that harms the earth or the people living on it.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

There’s far too much caffeine in my life.