Shrinkflation earned its grim reputation through the shrinking of Dairy Milk and Yorkie bars, but it feels like it's now been spread far beyond the world of chocolate.
Take the phrase 'Bond girl', for example. It used to have a pretty clear meaning, highlighting an actress who'd been made a bona-fide star by appearing opposite Sean Connery or Roger Moore in one of the 007 films. These days, it feels like it's a label that gets slapped on to anyone who's managed to pop up as an extra in the long-running series. Oh, you served Pierce Brosnan a drink, did you? Well done, here's your 'Bond girl' badge. What's that you say? You were walking along a pavement when a stuntman in a Daniel Craig wig drove past? Welcome to the club. Your Wikipedia page will be ready shortly.
Thankfully there are a few 'proper' Bond girls cut from the original mould. Brilliant and talented actresses who were already world famous before sharing a screen (and invariably a bed) with James Bond, or who used the notoriety earned in their appearance to launch long, successful careers. Honor Blackman, Britt Ekland and Famke Janssen all spring to mind, but right up there with them is Jane Seymour, star of Roger Moore's inaugural appearance as 007 in 1973's Live and Let Die.
She'd had a bit of TV work in a BBC series called The Onedin Line, but the global stardom she found alongside Moore and his versatile eyebrows turned into a long, successful and award-winning career. A career successful enough, in fact, that she was able to buy herself the gorgeous, Grade I-listed St Catherine's Court in Somerset. She has since moved on, but Seymour's old house is now up for sale again at £12.5 million via Savills.
Seymour first saw St Catherine's Court while making the television film Jamaica Inn in 1981, and it was love at first sight for both her and her then-husband David Flynn: 'We had one day's filming here, and by evening David and I had fallen in love with the place,' she told Architectural Digest in a January 1991 article.
It's not hard to see why. With 11 bedrooms, five reception rooms, breathtaking views and a wonderful location just outside Bath, this is a dream of country house.
Original features abound within, with wood-panelled rooms, stone mullioned windows filled with stained glass, ancient floors, cavernous fireplaces and more.
Seymour and Flynn bought it, renovated it and lived in it for a decade until their marriage broke up in 1992. After that, St Catherine's was was rented out as a film set and recording studio: Radiohead recorded most of their classic album OK Computer, and everyone from Robbie Williams to The Cure has lived and worked here.
Since 2007 the house has changed hands a number of times, and has become popular as a wedding venue in the area.
It's been well kept throughout, with the house and gardens having undergone restoration work to bring both to their former glory.
The property also includes more than just the main house: there is a Grade II*-listed medieval barn, an old school house that's been converted into a cottage, and a five-bedroom lodge near the gates of the 14-acre plot.
St Catherine's Court is for sale via Savills at £12.5 million — see more pictures and details. And if all this talk of Jane Seymour and Bond films has put you in the mood, viewers in the UK can currently watch 'Live and Let Die' on ITVX. It's surely worth watching for the classic Wings theme tune alone.
James Bond's London: Where to see 007's haunts around the British capital
Carla Passino treads in the footsteps of James Bond and his creator, author Ian Fleming.
The hotels that found fame on the silver screen — with a little help from James Bond, Marilyn Monroe and more
Top 10 fictional spies, from Bond and Bourne to Hannay and Smiley
Cold War agent George Smiley is back after 25 years. To celebrate John le Carré’s new novel, Katy Birchall presents
Credit: John Millar / Country Life
'I was 8–1 to be the next Bond just before Daniel Craig got it': Nathaniel Parker on life, acting, and his big near-miss
Nathaniel Parker catches up with Jack Watkins about David Cameron's epic gaffe, and the time he nearly became James Bond.
-
Brideshead Revisited (again): The 10 scene-stealing British country homes from film and televisionWhat do an enigmatic Caped Crusader, a sopping-wet Mr Darcy and Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell have in common? Believe it or not, British country houses.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: Is it ever okay to throw your dog a birthday party?Sir Lewis Hamilton did it, so why not throw a birthday party for your canine companion, Sophia Money-Coutts asks.
-
A 500-acre estate that spent 11 centuries in the same family, for sale for only the second time in its historyIn the beautiful hills of north Wales the Garthewin estate has come up for sale, including a great country house once restored by the architect who created Portmeirion. Penny Churchill takes a closer look.
-
'The city has always held an important creative space within our design studio': A luxury townhouse in Tokyo, courtesy of Aston MartinA new four-storey property in the Omotesandō district is the first single home private residence by the British ultra-luxury performance brand.
-
The Mediterranean Magic of MaltaWith historic charm, picture-perfect beaches and a welcoming approach to newcomers, Malta represents an appealing option for Mediterranean property hunters. Holly Kirkwood reports.
-
Four country houses with their own tennis courts, as seen in Country LifeIf Wimbledon has put you in the mood for more tennis, Annunciata Elwes is here with a selection of homes with their own tennis courts.
-
The majestic New Forest estate formerly owned by a billionaire adventurer — famous for driving 'the world's fastest kettle' — has come up for saleGreat estates in the unspoilt setting of the New Forest are always a welcome sight on the market, and Newton Park is a wonderful example with a sad story to tell. Anna White tells more.
-
A Hampshire Manor for sale that dates back to the days of Alfred the Great, with the most beautiful staircase we've seen in yearsThe ten bedroom property features an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa complex and stables, and it was restored by the same architect who worked on Downing Street.
-
The new property hotspots where you can have it all: Beautiful houses, great schools and idyllic lifestyleAcross the country people are selling up and heading to the towns where there's no compromise on dream homes, outstanding schooling and the good life, according to analysis from two of Britain's top estate agents. Anna White explains.
-
Where Venice once ruled: The roving Venetians left handsome imprints across the Greek world, from its religion to its rambling villasMatthew Dennison explores the lingering traces of Venice's vanished empire — and the best places to buy where it once stood.
