Swindon is not enough – every new housing estate deserves a Dench Close

Bond Place and Desmond Crescent have been named in honour of the 007 franchise after some scenes were shot nearby in the 90s – why stop there? James Bond fans have endured a rough few years. Ever since No Time to Die walloped off Daniel Craig, we’ve been stuck in a weird kind of limbo. There will eventually be a new James Bond film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, the most exciting director in the franchise’s history. But we don’t know when it will come out, or who will play Bond, or if 007 under Amazon will even be recognisable. In summary, we need something tangible to ground our anxieties. What we need is to pack up our things and head to north Swindon, to the site of the former Motorola manufacturing facility, where a new housing estate has just named a bunch of roads after James Bond. The BBC has reported that streets on Taylor Wimpey’s Robin Gardens development bear the names of figures close to the franchise. There is of course Bond Place, but also Desmond Crescent and Llewelyn Road, both named after the legendary actor who played Q. The BBC also reports that there is a nod to Pierce Brosnan, although the main draw seems to be Dench Close, which seems more like a war