Members of the Society had a great time exploring London “in the footsteps of James Bond” with Caroline Piper. Things did not start well with thunder, lightning and torrential rain just as the tour was about to start! However, 20 minutes later the storm abated and we carried on regardless. We visited the Mayfair address where Ian Fleming was born and the Old Admiralty where he worked in naval intelligence during World War 2, and talked about how Fleming’s experiences fed into the Bond character. We visited the scene of an infamous Russian assassination in London, where radioactive polonium-210 was slipped into a cup of tea, and visited the old Eon Productions offices where Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton were all cast. We then explored the gentlemen’s clubs, tailors, barbers and hat makers of St James’s where Bond’s inimitable style was created. A highlight was visiting Duke’s bar where Fleming coined the phrase “shaken not stirred”. We finished by exploring recent filming locations from Die Another Day, Skyfall and SPECTRE. I expect to see some very handsome gentlemen dressed in Turnball & Asser shirts (with the James Bond cuff), smelling of GF Trumper’s Eucris and smoking a Romeo y Julieta cigar at the next Society party!
Organised by Caroline Piper