Well my fellow ramblers down Memory Lane, we have held onto the wreckage into a new month and roll on spring. I am still amazed that people recognise me on the very rare occasions I venture out even though I am wearing a mask. It is even stranger considering the photo of me that appears in this column was taken 12 years ago.

This week I remember the giant MGM British Studios that once occupied 115 acres off Studio Way in Borehamwood that is now the site of a housing estate, industrial buildings and a college. It closed in 1970 although the famous white clock tower survived until 1986 when the owners decided to replace it with a car park.

For 25 years the studio produced many famous films and some low budget movies such as Fire Maidens From Outer Space and Village Of The Damned, which have become cult classics.

I guess the most famous film was 2001, directed by Stanley Kubrick, and which occupied the facility for many months. Ironically 10 years after the studio closed he returned to use part of the backlot to film sequences of the maze in The Shining, which was shooting at Elstree Studios. Stanley lived in nearby Barnet Lane and could be quite a headache for studio bosses, especially as he did not adhere to schedules. When we reopened Elstree Studios in the mid 1990s he asked to be shown around with a view to shooting Eyes Wide Shut there. I was against the idea and thankfully he went to Pinewood. At least it gave me the opportunity to meet Tom Cruise, but that is another story.

Older local residents still recall being kept awake one night with the loud bangs coming from the backlot as they were filming the attack on a chateau by The Dirty Dozen, an all-star World War Two drama.

They may also recall the giant castle built on the backlot for Ivanhoe - starring Robert Taylor -which stood for several years in the 1950s until it was replaced by a giant Chinese village created for The Inn Of Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman.

Other productions included The VIPs, with Richard Burton and Liz Taylor, and Where Eagles Dare, with Clint Eastwood, not to mention cult television series such as Danger Man, UFO and The Prisoner.

It was an excellent studio, well laid out and kept well. The tragedy was MGM in America was overflowing with red ink and it closed as part of a fire sale. Had they been able to think ahead the studio buildings could have been retained for film production and the backlot turned into a theme park. However, the film business was imploding as costs rose and cinema attendances fell.

Over the decades I interviewed many of the stars and studio employees who worked there with the idea of writing a book. After 50 years I eventually had amassed hundreds of photos and plans as well so it seemed time. Hence my book was published last year and to date has sold twice the number we expected, so nostalgia never dies. All the proceeds have been donated to the volunteer group Elstree Screen Heritage and copies are only available via their website. It contains many behind the scenes stories about the likes of Clark Gable, Sophia Loren, Stewart Granger and Liz Taylor by the people who were there. Sadly most of the interviewees are no longer with us so it is their memory of the days when Hollywood came to Hertfordshire.

Incidentally I was responsible for coming up with the names of the roads on the housing estate that now occupies the backlot, but I wonder how many residents today know the origin of their road names or who they are named after. They should buy a copy of my book for the answer lies within. Until next time take care of yourself as I enjoy your company.

Paul Welsh MBE is a Borehamwood writer and historian of Elstree Studios