For me it was the other way round. Large chunks of some of her books live rent-free in my head. Without her, no CS Lewis or Eager!

As I posted, identity is a very tricky topic. Giraldus Cambrensis was a Welsh and Latin-speaking monk who hitched his star to Norman-French overlords who found a complaisant Pope to announce that Ireland was legally part of the King of England's demesne. How much "English" is in that mix?

Tricky question. The answer depends on era, location, language, ethnicity. Perm any combination. For at least two centuries kings of England did not speak English. Nor did most of the aristocracy. Before 1066 most spoke English but some were descended mainly from Danes. Before that, heptarchy...

Did you love the Nesbit stories which so influenced him too?

Excellent. One of my daughters "borrowed" my copy of Howl's Moving Castle for her gap year adventure on the Trans-Siberian Railway. She lost it somewhere in Outer Mongolia. On occasion I still remind her of that.

My father loved the Volvo in the TV series. A quarter-century later he was able to afford a new Volvo and stayed with the brand for the rest of his life! Coincidence? I think not.

Norman money was where it's at. But were Normans "English"? Was the first colonisation of Ireland an extension of Viking colonialism? (Not the first time the Vikings had eyes on Ireland.)

Well, yes. I also have a thing for blond hair and blue eyes, though - Ilya Kuriakin, Lymond, Spike... (I married a blue-eyed blond too, as it happens.)

Excellent. Are you a Diana Wynne Jones fan?

Welsh is not English. Wales was also a victim of colonialism. In Gerald's time there were still free Principalities.