Jeremy Clarkson has bought a £1 million pub to continue his Clarkson’s Farm exploits and more.
The Grand Tour star revealed the news in his Sunday Times column, explaining that despite warnings from friends, pub life is the next challenge he wants to take on after his farm owning journey.
“As one friend put it: ‘Owning a pub these days is even more daft than owning a farm,’” the TV star jokingly quotes in his article. “But there’s something inside a man that causes him to think, when he has the means, it’d be nice to buy the village boozer.”
Clarkson referenced his failure to get planning permission to open a restaurant on his Diddly Squat farm (efforts documented throughout his Amazon Prime series) was one of the more concrete reasons behind his decision to purchase an “old, Cotswoldy” site in need of some restoration.
The former Top Gear host plans to sell his Clarkson’s Farm produce at the pub, plus put his own beer on draught there as well.
“I also wanted a room I could turn into a clubhouse, which, on wet weekdays, would provide a mental health forum and a free pint for the nation’s farmers,” he went on to explain. “I wanted dogs and families round the fire. And a restaurant where absolutely everything had been grown or reared in Britain.”
On this topic, he continued: “Even the salt, pepper and wine. I had even decided there’d be no coffee or Coca-Cola.”
While the famous farmer has previously had trouble dealing with councils when it comes to being granted permission for his grand plans – see above restaurant defeat – he revealed in his column that West Oxfordshire district council were delighted with his idea to take over the pub in question.
There’s still lots of work to do, however. Clarkson revealed the pub needs work done to its cellar, and a lot of general TLC as its “gable end is falling down” and the “outside decking area is dangerous.” Plus, there are reportedly dead rats, “illegal” lavatories, and water “unfit for human consumption” on the site.
Whether or not The Grand Tour presenter will document his pub journey on Clarkson’s Farm, another show, or simply continue in his columns and on his social media remains to be seen. But the TV star has suggested the place may be open by winter this year.
