In the second part of our interview with worldwide James Bond authority and Lydd resident Graham Rye, Kyle Hill finds out about Graham's move to Lydd and how local landmarks found their way into the super sleuth novels.

Bond’s Neighbourhood
Rye explained he had always desired to own a vintage home in Kent by the sea, a dream he achieved last year when he moved from Surrey to Lydd.

Although Rye has called Lydd home for a short time, his family is no stranger to Kent. His father grew up in Staple, and as a child Rye spent many summer holidays in the Kentish countryside.

Rye said: "Sometimes I would spend a full six weeks running wild in the countryside with my five cousins. By the time I went back to school in Heston, I’d picked up a Kentish twang in my voice and they all [my classmates] took the mickey."

Moving to Kent was more than a return to Rye’s family roots, but also that of the James Bond saga.

"[Fleming] drove around these various country lanes, soaking up the atmosphere," Rye said. “Sometimes he’d drive around at night and see the name on a shop hoarding and it’d stick in his mind."

Rye said Fleming not only relied on his personal experiences in Kent but also searched Ordnance Survey maps for his character’s names. Six miles west of Lydd, just outside the town of East Guldeford in East Sussex, lays Moneypenny Farm. The farm, tucked away from the old military canal leading to Rye, became the namesake for Miss Moneypenny, the secretary to Bond’s boss M. Just south of St. Mary’s In The Marsh, far from the Jamaican beach where Bond would meet one of his most famous girls, is Honeychild Manor.

To mark 007 Magazine’s 30th anniversary, Rye compiled and published an in-depth look into Bond’s Kentish roots, complete with 360-degree photographs of featured locations, available to the public on his Web site.

Return to Print
In 2005, with printing costs rising, Rye made the decision to take the magazine exclusively online, a hiatus that would last four years. Rye said he was glad to bring back the printed magazine.

"One can’t happen without the other," he said. "I never liked saying goodbye to the printed version. I could never really imagine being without it."

As 007 Magazine returns to print, Rye shows no signs of slowing down. Rye recently welcomed to his home Terry Mountain, who played Raphael in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. An interview with Mountain is set to appear in the first issue of the 007 Magazine Archive Files, a spinoff title which will take a detailed look into the production of the Bond film OHMSS.

Rye says: "It’s always survived because there are always people out there that have an interest in Bond, that want to write on various aspects of the character and subject. As 007 Magazine has evolved over the years, it’s become the magazine for people that want to find out something 'real' about James Bond. If they want to write about Bond, they want to write it for 007 Magazine."

Rye says 007 Magazine has carved a niche in the Bond series by way of covering aspects of the saga not included in the movies or books.

"We don’t write an official version of anything, we write the truth," Rye said. "There’s various things that you won’t read in official books that you’ll be able to read and pictures that you’ll be able to see in 007 Magazine. I’ve got so many thousands of pictures that have never been seen before. In those 36 pages [readers are] always going to see a lot of imagery that’s completely new to them."



> For information on how to purchase 007 Magazine, visit the magazine’s Web site at http://007magazine.co.uk/
> Read part I of this interview

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From Romney Marsh, with Love (part II)

In the second part of our interview with worldwide James Bond authority and Lydd resident Graham Rye, Kyle Hill finds out about Graham's move to Lydd and how local landmarks found their way into the super sleuth novels.

Bond’s Neighbourhood
Rye explained he had always desired to own a vintage home in Kent by the sea, a dream he achieved last year when he moved from Surrey to Lydd.

Although Rye has called Lydd home for a short time, his family is no stranger to Kent. His father grew up in Staple, and as a child Rye spent many summer holidays in the Kentish countryside.

Rye said: "Sometimes I would spend a full six weeks running wild in the countryside with my five cousins. By the time I went back to school in Heston, I’d picked up a Kentish twang in my voice and they all [my classmates] took the mickey."

Moving to Kent was more than a return to Rye’s family roots, but also that of the James Bond saga.

"[Fleming] drove around these various country lanes, soaking up the atmosphere," Rye said. “Sometimes he’d drive around at night and see the name on a shop hoarding and it’d stick in his mind."

Rye said Fleming not only relied on his personal experiences in Kent but also searched Ordnance Survey maps for his character’s names. Six miles west of Lydd, just outside the town of East Guldeford in East Sussex, lays Moneypenny Farm. The farm, tucked away from the old military canal leading to Rye, became the namesake for Miss Moneypenny, the secretary to Bond’s boss M. Just south of St. Mary’s In The Marsh, far from the Jamaican beach where Bond would meet one of his most famous girls, is Honeychild Manor.

To mark 007 Magazine’s 30th anniversary, Rye compiled and published an in-depth look into Bond’s Kentish roots, complete with 360-degree photographs of featured locations, available to the public on his Web site.

Return to Print
In 2005, with printing costs rising, Rye made the decision to take the magazine exclusively online, a hiatus that would last four years. Rye said he was glad to bring back the printed magazine.

"One can’t happen without the other," he said. "I never liked saying goodbye to the printed version. I could never really imagine being without it."

As 007 Magazine returns to print, Rye shows no signs of slowing down. Rye recently welcomed to his home Terry Mountain, who played Raphael in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. An interview with Mountain is set to appear in the first issue of the 007 Magazine Archive Files, a spinoff title which will take a detailed look into the production of the Bond film OHMSS.

Rye says: "It’s always survived because there are always people out there that have an interest in Bond, that want to write on various aspects of the character and subject. As 007 Magazine has evolved over the years, it’s become the magazine for people that want to find out something 'real' about James Bond. If they want to write about Bond, they want to write it for 007 Magazine."

Rye says 007 Magazine has carved a niche in the Bond series by way of covering aspects of the saga not included in the movies or books.

"We don’t write an official version of anything, we write the truth," Rye said. "There’s various things that you won’t read in official books that you’ll be able to read and pictures that you’ll be able to see in 007 Magazine. I’ve got so many thousands of pictures that have never been seen before. In those 36 pages [readers are] always going to see a lot of imagery that’s completely new to them."



> For information on how to purchase 007 Magazine, visit the magazine’s Web site at http://007magazine.co.uk/
> Read part I of this interview

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