Launched on Amazon Prime on Friday 23 May, episodes one to four of the new series document ex-Top Gear man Jeremy Clarkson’s journey to becoming a publican alongside the daily struggles at his Cotswolds farm.
In the opening scenes, filmed last winter, Clarkson can be seen working alone at the Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton.
After employing new farmhand Harriett Cowan to cope with the workload in the absence of right-hand man Kaleb Cooper, who was busy touring the country with his theatre show, Clarkson tells farm manager Charlie Ireland about his plans to open a pub.
In a bid to draw people away from the farm shop, which opened in 2020, and to appease the local residents and councils that have taken umbrage against the number of visitors it attracts, Clarkson declared he’d had a “eureka moment”.
“I’ve had a brilliant idea, I’m going to buy a pub.
“I don’t want to buy a village pub, I don’t want to fall out with any more villagers, I don’t want a town centre pub, not really the vibe I am going for”, he said.
Tough business
The journalist-turned-farmer explained he wanted to open a coaching inn-style venue with a farm to fork focus, using produce from Diddly Squat in the kitchen and pouring the farm’s Hawkstone beers at the bar.
“I cannot think of a single reason not to do it. Can British farming save itself by saving the British pub?”, he questioned.
Describing his vision as down to earth and with no frills, Clarkson added: “I want to make a pub with really good food from British farmers, so we’re supporting [them]. I want to make this the cheapest pub to run ever.”
However, Ireland highlighted the difficulties faced by the hospitality sector, including recruitment challenges, warning Clarkson: “I get the theory, but the reality is very different. Do you know how many pubs have closed since 2000? A third, so you can see how tough it is as a business.
“The only pubs opening round here are the ones people can’t afford to eat at.”
The journey to finding a venue was also not as straight forward as Clarkson first thought, but after visiting a number of dilapidated sites, he found the “perfect” pub on the A40.
While the first four episodes make light of the issues faced by Clarkson, the show highlighted a number of key issues faced by operators at all corners of the hospitality industry, especially in rural areas.
Depressing figures
According to the programme, there were 110 pubs per 100,000 people in 1990, but this had reduced to 68 per 100k by 2022.
It comes as data from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) this week showed some 15,000 pubs have been lost over the past 25 years.
Clarkson told the cameras: “The sheer volume of pubs [for sale] is very depressing.
“Loneliness is becoming a big issue in rural areas, villages are losing their souls. There’s no village bobby, no village shop. If we end up with no village pubs it’s just some houses.
“The pub is the hub [of a village]. It should always be that way.”
Previously known as the Windmill Restaurant, Clarkson opened the Farmer’s Dog pub near Burford on August bank holiday weekend last year, despite some initial planning issues, though this is yet to be televised.
Ahead of the new series being launched, it was reported by the Telegraph that Clarkson found running a pub more stressful than his farm.
The next two episodes of Clarkson’s Farm series four will be released on Amazon Prime on 30 May, with a further two episodes set to follow on 6 June.
