Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that the pub he recently opened will be his last entrepreneurial venture as he “doesn’t understand” business.
The Grand Tour star, whose Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm is one of the service’s most-streamed TV shows, extended his business empire in July 2024, taking over rural country pub The Windmill in Asthall – a “village boozer” on five acres of countryside near Burford.
He made the purchase after finding success with his now-famous, 1000-acre Diddly Squat farm and accompanying shop, which is run by the TV personality’s wife, Lisa Hogan. He has also made a success of the boozer, where he employs more than 140 people.
The purchase of his pub, which is called The Farmer’s Dog, features in the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm – but he has now ruled out any similar ventures in the future.
“I’m done with business now,” he said in a new interview with The Times. “I am not starting another business as long as I live.”
Clarkson admitted: “I don’t understand it and am not motivated by money. I just want a good craic.”
The TV personality is now producing a TV series showcasing his efforts to be a pub landlord – much in the same way Clarkson’s Farm shows his travails of running Diddly Squat.
But his efforts in purchasing the boozer were revealed in Clarkson’s Farm, which unveiled the hilarious meaning of its name, The Farmer’s Dog, in the latest season.
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In episode four, Clarkson is shown reading through documentation received from the lawyer handling the pub’s purchase, and he learns that the surrounding Oxfordshire area is regularly frequented by people who enjoy having sex in semi-secluded public spaces.
The episode shows Clarkson discover that the entirety of the pub’s garden area is designated by the council as “a picnic site” – a detail that he said became “blurred and confusing” when he continued to read through the file.
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After calling his lawyer, Clarkson is told that the site previously attracted some “unwanted and anti-social behaviour” that “might put you off eating your picnic”.
When Clarkson asked if this activity was centred around the public toilets, the lawyer said: “We have happened upon some quite interesting photographs which capture certain graffiti and certain goings-on.”
Upon inspecting the area, Clarkson discovered the activity was still going on, after finding underwear strewn about in trees.
Clarkson first revealed the dogging revelation in a video shared on Instagram that saw him standing outside the pub, holding up a stick with a pair of black and pink knickers dangling off the end. He wrote: “Tell me you bought a pub on a dogging site without telling me you bought a pub on a dogging site.”
He also said he was surprised that West Oxfordshire district council approved his plans to transform the “famous dogging site” that is “full of dead rats” into a “fun” village watering hole.
