The Clarkson’s Farm star has a lot to deal with at his recently purchased pub
Jeremy Clarkson isn’t afraid of a challenge – as you’ll know if you’ve seen the trials and tribulations he goes through on his farm, Diddly Squat.
It’s good news that the Clarkson’s Farm star is keen to face things head-on, as it sounds like is latest purchase, a pub in the Cotswolds, is in need of a huge amount of work.
Writing in his Sunday Times column, Jeremy shared that he dreamed of buying the pub in his local village, explaining: “I couldn’t buy my village boozer. The locals would set fire to me if I did that,” before adding that his hopes to convert the barn on his grounds into a restaurant were also scuppered.
“I had failed to get planning permission to turn a barn on my farm into a restaurant, but I still wanted somewhere where I could sell all that we make.”
Not one to be put off, Jeremy said he looked at “14,000” pubs to try and find the right one – despite his friends telling him that opening a pub was a terrible idea.
He eventually purchased The Windmill in Burford, but the pub is not without its foibles. “There is some work to be done on the pub itself,” Jeremy wrote.
“For example, the cellar is too small, the gable end is falling down, the outside decking area is dangerous, the water is unfit for human consumption, the loft is full of dead rats and the lavatories are illegal.”
While it sounds like there is endless work to be done, Jeremy already has big plans for his pub, giving a cute insight into his role as a grandfather.
“In the corner there will be a table with my name on it,” he says. “A place where I can go on a Sunday with my granddaughter for some gammon, egg and chips. Well-priced, British-grown food with a pint of Hawkstone beer. And a warm fuzzy feeling inside.”
Jeremy also has a clear idea of how he’ll use the space in the pub, writing: “I 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.
“I wanted dogs and families round the fire. And a restaurant where absolutely everything had been grown or reared in Britain. Even the salt, pepper and
wine. I had even decided there’d be no coffee or Coca-Cola.”
