Ian Fleming's favourite pub closes abruptly
22-Sep-2023 • Bond News
Ian Fleming's favourite pub has closed with short notice. The James Bond creator was especially fond of The Duck Inn located in the hamlet of Pett Bottom in Kent. The Michelin Guide restaurant and pub has closed for business “with immediate effect”. The owners told local press that the pressures of rising costs have made the business unsustainable.
A statement read: “We are very sorry to say that due to the impact of rising costs, we have reluctantly taken the decision to close The Duck with immediate effect. Thank you for all of your support over the last five and a half years.”
The historic building dates back to 1623 and sold its first beer in 1849. Ian Fleming penned 'You Only Live Twice' in his final years whilst frequenting the pub, and included it in the novel.
When M sends James Bond's obituary to The Times newspaper, it reads: "When [Bond] was 11 years of age, both his parents were killed in a climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges above Chamonix, and the youth came under the guardianship of an aunt, since deceased, Miss Charmian Bond, and went to live with her at the quaintly-named hamlet of Pett Bottom near Canterbury in Kent. There, in a small cottage hard by the attractive Duck Inn, his aunt, who must have been a most erudite and accomplished lady, completed his education for an English public school, and, at the age of twelve or thereabouts, he passed satisfactorily into Eton, for which College he had been entered at his birth by his father."
A blue plaque memorializing Ian Fleming's association with the pub was installed several years ago.
