As we all await the release of the latest Bond film, 'Spectre', I fondly remember my own brush with the famous spy! Invited to test the latest film equipment from Sony, I made my way to the legendary Pinewood Studios. Delighted to be back on site, I was straight away on the lookout for the famous and the interesting. Passing the food van which was a hive of activity and dodging oncoming golf buggies, I soon spotted the unmistakable 007 stage.
The stage was built in 1976 for the Bond movie 'The Spy Who Loved Me' and has since been used in the filming of many high profile films such as Tomb Raider, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Da Vinci Code.
It was a thrill to see the film location and I was reminded of the time that I visited Golden Eye in Jamaica, the place where Ian Fleming wrote so many of his James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote fourteen of his Bond stories at Golden Eye, his Jamaican villa named after a war time operation that he had been involved in. Today the five bedroomed Golden Eye can be rented for a mere $8000 per week and visitors can sit at the famous writing desk and gaze out at the picture perfect Bond beach.
Fleming hosted many famous names during his time at the villa including Truman Capote, Cecil Beaton and his friend Noël Coward who was a close neighbour.
Golden Eye is now owned by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records though it remains largely unchanged from Fleming's day.
Sitting at the famous desk, daydreaming of the fabulous stories that had originated from this very spot, there was only one thing missing... 'Martini please...shaken, not stirred!'
Below: Ian Fleming writing at his desk, Golden Eye, Jamaica
