Art gallery owner and interior designer, Chris Caldwell is a Malone Road native who loves nothing more than playing the bodhran and enjoying summer walks along the tree lined avenues of South Belfast.
I was born in... Malone
I grew up in... Magheragall
I now live... Between Aghalee and Lower Ballinderry
I was educated at.. Brackenber House, Belfast; Malvern College, Worcestershire; College Of Business Studies, Belfast; City Of London Polytechnic
My earliest memory is... We used to live in a house on the corner of University Road and Mount Charles. There was a water tank in a closet in my sister’s bedroom which they used to put my toy boats in and proceed to sink them. Funny enough I was talking to them both about this a couple of weeks ago and both remember it but both but denied it totally! It wasn’t me; it was her. We never grow up!
When I was a child I wanted to be... A professional musician
I actually became... An art gallery owner and interior designer
Worst job I’ve ever had... I worked for a few years on the oil rigs in the North Sea
Best job I've ever had... Without doubt my current one
The bravest thing I've ever done... As a teenager I used to go gliding, initially on Long Kesh before the internment camp was built and then the club moved, temporarily, to Newtownards. What a buzz, flying solo above Scrabo Tower.
The stupidest thing I've ever done... Retreating from the Cairngorms one summer, not because of the usual bad weather but because I had got sunburned
The biggest thing I've yet to do... I am happy with my life and don’t have any major ambitions left
The person/people who inspired me most is/are... In my earlier years it would have been writers like Jack Kerouac who instilled the wanderlust in me but in all honesty I think I have to come closer to home. Although through my teenage years my relationship with my father was never easy, he was always someone I truly admired
The most important thing in the world is.. Integrity. It provides me with a code I try to live by
I'm very bad at... Starting something!
I'm very good at... Playing the bodhrán
I'm most proud of... my children
My best friend would say... “Horse! You are rubbish at playing the bodhrán!”
I like to relax by... Playing music
My favourite saying/quote is... Happy Days!
The last book I read was... The Histories by Herodotus
My favourite movie is... Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The actor that would play me in a movie of my life would be.... Hugh Laurie
The song that makes me dance is... Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones
The song I would have played at my funeral would be... The Lark In The Clear Air
The best place I've ever been... Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland
The place I have to visit before I die is... Northern Pakistan
The last person I talked to on the phone was... My son
The last text message I received was from... Chelsea Football club. I get regular Chelsea texts to keep me updated!
If I was a politician I would... Not be a very good politician
If I won the lottery I would... love to leave a major building of architectural importance to mark my passing on earth
If I could describe myself in five words they would be... Opinionated, honest, laid back, thoughtless (at times), logical. (My wife helped me out here!)
If I could invite five people (living or dead) to a dinner party they would be... Michael Foot; Frank Lloyd Wright; Pablo Picasso; Robert Johnston, Catherine Zeta-Jones
If I could change one thing about South Belfast it would be... thoughtless, selfish car parking on the clearway but that is a problem not peculiar to South Belfast
My favourite thing about South Belfast is... I usually like remoteness when I go walking, but to walk up and down the quiet tree-lined avenues of South Belfast in the summer warmth and then come out onto the buzz of the Lisburn Road is always a great change of atmosphere