JEREMY Clarkson has bought a £1million pub, revealing plans to use all-British ingredients, as well as ban ‘confusing toilet signs and slot machines’.
Top Gear legend Jeremy, 64, unveiled his ambitious plans for a historic Cotswolds public house, embarking on a new venture following the success of Clarkson’s Farm.
Having purchased The Windmill, near Burford, Oxfordshire, for “less than £1 million”, he now aims to make his mark by incorporating bar games while banning noisy TVs.
The Windmill, known for its glowing reviews and affordable prices, was previously self-described as a “magical Oxfordshire wedding and event venue in the heart of the Cotswolds”.
It announced to be “under new ownership” on June 4th.
Despite initial challenges such as staffing issues “thanks to Brexit” and problems with a “loft full of dead rats” and “illegal” lavatories, Jeremy is determined to get the pub up-and-running quickly.
Writing in The Sunday Times, he told readers he still has a wedding reception to host ‘in a couple of weeks’ time.’
Jeremy admitted his friends are skeptical about his new endeavor, though, warning that the “evidence [suggests] it will be a total disaster”.
One even remarked, “Owning a pub these days is even more daft than owning a farm. What’s next? You buying a cinema?”
Nonetheless, The Grand Tour host has seen success in recent months as part-owner of the Cotswold brewer that produces his Hawkstone lager, utilising barley grown on his nearby Diddly Squat farm.
Jeremy wrote that the next step was to find a place to sell ‘all that we make’ on the farm, including his own lager on tap.
He said: “I just needed the pub where all this could happen. And then, after I’d looked at about 14,000, I found just the place.”
Upon buying The Windmill, he discovered it was near a ‘famous dogging site.’
Surprisingly, West Oxfordshire district council agreed to close the site, allowing him to proceed with his business plans.
Jeremy envisions a “fun” and homely pub featuring bar billiards, darts, and a garden, as well as a place where he can enjoy a Sunday meal with his granddaughter.
“Well-priced, British-grown food with a pint of Hawkstone beer,” he suggested, promoting his own brew.
Jeremy recounted the difficulty of finding the right pub before settling on The Windmill.
He couldn’t buy his village pub as “the locals would set fire to me” and other options had significant drawbacks, such as one that had been a county lines meth lab.
Earlier this month, reports indicated that villagers were concerned their ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’ could be overwhelmed by visitors if he purchased the Grade II listed Coach & Horses Inn in Gloucestershire.
The journalist first gave viewers an insight into his passion for farming in 2021 when launched his popular programme on Prime Video.
Despite the meteoric success of Clarkson’s Farm on-screen, behind the scenes it’s a completely different story.
The show follows his struggles as he attempts to manage the 1,000-acre plot of Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton.
The team are powering on with filming the fourth season of the show but the star recently gave an insight into a major problem they face.
He posted an image onto his Instagram story as he worked the land using one of the many large tractors.
The vehicle created two long mud trails, but they were completely filled with murky water as the fields were completely flooded.
He sarcastically captioned the snap: “Great year we have had.”
This comes after Jeremy opened up on how the farm faced the familiar weather foe with an insight into just how hard they were hit.
Taking to Instagram, Diddly Squat’s account shared an aerial snapshot which highlighted how many of their crops have been jeopardised by the recent downpour.
Alongside the snap, the caption read: “It’s going to be a rough year. All that seed sowed, drowned with the constant rain.”
Jeremy has actively attempted to diversify his farm ahead of the upcoming instalment of the global hit factual entertainment show.
He wanted to use some of his biggest fields to grow a herbal ley called GS4, something that one cannot eat in order to try and get a government subsidy.
He revealed that since series three of the show, 20 per cent of the land on the site won’t be used to produce any food but will help make them a profit as they focus on environmentally friendly schemes.
He previously claimed in The Sunday Times: “I could use chemicals but they are bad for the soil and, we are told, bad for the nation’s streams and rivers. It’s better and cheaper, therefore, to use cow muck.
“But that means keeping cows and that, again, is a global warming no-no apparently because of their endless burping and farting.
“There are pages and pages and pages of rules and regulations on [government subsidies], and I’ll be honest I haven’t read many (any) of them because that’s Cheerful Charlie’s job. But what I do know is that this year the biggest field on the farm is being used to grow a herbal ley called GS4.
“And all you need to know about this is: you can’t eat it.
“The second biggest field has been given over to rye grass and you can’t eat that either. But the government pays me to do this because less farming is needed, which means I’m producing less carbon dioxide. And I’m helping to replenish the nitrogen content of the soil. Which I approve of.”
Previous instalments of the show have shown some of huge setbacks that Jeremy and his team have faced.
This includes losing newborn piglets, emotion after the heifers were sent to the slaughterhouse, and opposition from the local council to parts of his business.
