Clarksons

Everyone’s heard about Clarkson’s Farm, so a visit to the Diddly Squat Farm Shop is a must for any fan, but it might just surprise you as it did when I visited while in the Cotswolds

Eager to see what Jeremy Clarkson’s famed corporation was really like, earlier this month I visited his Diddly Squat Farm Shop on the grounds of The Farmer’s Dog in the Cotswolds. Truthly, it was far from what I had expected.

Ever since Clarkson graced our screens in 2021 to take on the mammoth and unexpected task of running his very own farm in the Cotswolds, I was invested. Not because I’m an avid Top Gear fan, but after seeing the mega operation of Clarkson’s Farm and the endless challenges that come with it, I wanted them to succeed.

That, along with the comical moments that unfolded between Jeremy and fellow farmer, Kaleb Cooper, as well as the iconic characters of Gerald Cooper, Charlie Ireland and Lisa Hogan, who contribute to the highly entertaining and beloved Amazon series.

OPINION

Amy Jones

OPINION

Amy Jones

So when I found myself spending the weekend in the Cotswolds, a visit to Diddly Squat Farm Shop was top of my list.

While the flagship farm shop is in Chipping Norton, another of Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm Shops is in Burford. With ample space on the grounds, this is where you can also find The Farmer’s Dog, Clarkson’s pub and restaurant, which gets fully booked every weekend, as I quickly discovered. Yet, there was so much more on the site than I had initially anticipated.

From the moment Google Maps told me I had arrived at my destination, I was bewildered by how busy the car park was. I mean, it was a Saturday afternoon, but it was a gloomy day in May, and it was absolutely packed with fellow Clarkson’s farm fans who were just as eager to experience the show for themselves.

As I crossed the road and walked into the sprawling site, underneath towering woodland adorned with string lights, people were carrying crates of Hawkstone’s beer and an array of Clarkson merch. And that was just the start.

I was amazed by how big the grounds were and how much there was to do. While The Farmer’s Dog prompted the opening of this space, it’s rapidly grown to include an outdoor food van, The Farmer’s Dough, selling pizzas, and two bars pouring pints of Clarkson’s Hawkstone beer.

Then, of course, there was The Grand Tour tent, and for anyone a fan of the show, will remember Clarkson sparking up the genius idea to get in touch with his fellow Top Gear connections to use the tent as part of his franchise.

As I unassumingly strolled into the tent, decorated with more string lights and the iconic The Grand Tour sign still in place, I was taken aback by its scale and the amount on offer. Alongside its bar, there was an incredibly well-stocked butcher’s, a variety of tables and chairs packed with visitors, and two shops.

In one corner was the Hops & Chops, where I found a huge amount of The Farmer’s Dog merchandise, from t-shirts, caps, farming shirts, mugs, hip flasks, dog beds and dog jackets. There were also Hawkstone socks, bags, glasses, wine and of course, their signature beer. I couldn’t believe how much merch was laid before me, with clearly a huge demand for it, and its ever-growing popularity.

On the other side of the tent was the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, selling everything from fresh produce, spirits, snacks, books, clothing, aftershave and the iconic ‘This smells like my boll**ks’ candle, all under Clarkson’s brand. He’s clearly doing incredibly well, and for a fan like me, it’s easy to see why.

Clarkson has created an inviting space where you could easily spend hours or an afternoon. There’s a sprawling garden with views across the rolling countryside and dozens of outdoor benches for visitors to enjoy a refreshing Hawkstone beer.

It’s easily one of the best pub gardens I’ve been to, simply due to the copious amount of space available, and it’s even better for those who can’t secure a booking at The Farmer’s Dog. There’s even a traditional pub game of Aunt Sally to enjoy, where players throw wooden battens in an attempt to knock over a small skittle that is positioned on a pole around 30 feet away.

During my visit, I had my first taste of Hawkstone’s, opting for a pint of the IPA for £7, and I was impressed. You never quite know what you’ll get with a celebrity beverage, but I would happily drink it again. Elsewhere on the bar menu was their premium lager, session lager, premium lager zero, and the Kaleb cider, Hedgerow cider, rhub**tard cider, black stout and elderflower lager top.

While I expected to walk in and spend a few minutes browsing the farm shop offerings, I ended up staying for a few hours, in a place where there was no rush to leave. Even when the heavens opened, visitors scurried under the garden umbrellas, not being deterred from their day out at Clarkson’s farm.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

A new trailer for Clarkson’s Farm has shown a moment when Jeremy Clarkson was hospitalised after suffering an issue with his heart where it “wasn’t getting any blood”

A new trailer for Clarkson’s Farm has shown the horrifying moment when star Jeremy Clarkson had to be hospitalised after a heart scare. In the clip, he told colleague Kaleb Cooper that his heart “wasn’t getting any blood”.

The trailer for season five was released on 18 May. It started with clips about life at Diddly Squat, including Jeremy’s pursuit of a driverless tractor, but the tone suddenly shifted when he opened up about a recent hospitalisation.

Clips of the star in hospital, with wires connected to his chest, just after a clip of an ambulance racing down a country road. Jeremy could be heard telling Kaleb: “You’ve got three arteries that feed your heart to keep it pumping. My heart wasn’t getting any blood.”

READ MORE: Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper ‘replaced’ in season 5 trailerREAD MORE: Jeremy Clarkson calls Aberaeron Wales ‘achingly beautiful’ with ‘best hotel in the world’

The camera cut to Kaleb’s shocked face before another Diddly Squat farmer said: “To be fair, my mother dropped dead of heart attack at 67.” Jeremy responded that this was “cheery news”.

Jeremy has faced heart issues before. In 2024, he went through a heart procedure where he has a stent put in to open up a blocked artery after suffering from tightness in the chest. Writing in his column for the Sunday Times, the then 64-year-old said he thought he was having a heart attack because the symptoms were so familiar: “I certainly wasn’t having a heart attack. But if it hadn’t looked that way, I never would have been sent to hospital.”

Though he will discuss his latest hospitalisation in Clarkson’s Farm, Jeremy does not seem to be letting his heart scare slow him down. The rest of the new trailer showed him to be getting stuck into life at the farm as it battled a tuberculosis outbreak among the animals.

It also saw him consider using a driverless tractor. In the trailer, Jeremy is sitting in his office and talking to Charlie Ireland: “I’ve had a brainwave, don’t worry.” Charlie was left shocked when he was handed a piece of paper that had plans for a driverless tractor.

The footage cut to said tractor, which was described as the “Starship Enterprise of farming”, working away on the land and Jeremy declaring to farmhand Kaleb: “Behold my technology at work.” Kaleb responded: “That is basically taking my job.”

But, Kaleb didn’t have to worry about his job as the tractor soon stopped moving in the middle of ploughing a field. “That went well,” Kaleb joked.

The new series was greenlit by Prime Video back on November 5, 2024 and filming took place last year. The first four episodes will be released on 3 June and the remaining will arrive in batches on the 10th and 17th.

Prime Video have not said if the show will continue after the upcoming series, but Jeremy has expressed his desire to have the show come back for at least two more seasons.

“We’ll definitely do six – Amazon want to [do season six] and I want to. I’ve got a good idea for six,” Clarkson told The Sun earlier this year. “I said I’ll stop doing them when there are no more ideas. But I’ve got two quite good ones, so we’ll do six and then we’ll see.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Harriet Cowan, who stepped in for Kaleb Cooper on Clarkson’s Farm, has opened up about what Jeremy Clarkson is really like off camera after spending 11 weeks living and working at Diddly Squat Farm

Harriet Cowan has disclosed what Jeremy Clarkson was truly like. Harriet, 25, emerged as one of the standout personalities of series four of Clarkson’s Farm when she deputised for Kaleb Cooper.

She spent 11 weeks residing in a caravan at Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire assisting the former Top Gear host in managing the land. The ex-full-time nurse charmed viewers with her remarkable farming expertise and sharp-witted comebacks to the TV presenter.

Now Harriet, who left nursing behind to concentrate on farming and content creation, has revealed what Jeremy was like away from the cameras. On the Fed By Farmers podcast, she explained: “It was a different dynamic, he was like a father figure when I was there. He was lovely.”

She continued to disclose that people were eager to express their views on Jeremy after discovering she was on the programme. Harriet commented: “He’s like Marmite isn’t he?

“Off the back of the show people would always be like, ‘Oh I hate that guy,’ or ‘I love that guy,’ and I think he just doesn’t care, which is great.”

Harriet has previously stated she knew who Jeremy was before participating in Clarkson’s Farm, but hadn’t watched any of his earlier work. She admits she “wasn’t really into the cars thing” as a youngster.

However, after being approached by Charlie Ireland, Jeremy’s land agent, she was “intrigued” by the opportunity of featuring on the Amazon Prime Video series. She characterises Jeremy as “very much like every other farmer I’ve ever met”.

Speaking to The Times, she revealed that the former Grand Tour presenter was “very much willing to learn”. Jeremy, 66, found his career taking an unexpected turn towards farming in 2019 when the tenant at his farm retired.

He had originally purchased the 1,000-acre plot in 2008, with the-then Curdle Hill Farm being managed by a local resident. After opting to run the farm himself, Jeremy renamed it Diddly Squat Farm and chronicled his experiences on television.

Harriet reveals that it soon became apparent that Jeremy “wanted to do well by the farm”. She also quips that the television personality has the “physique of a farmer”.

While Harriet stopped short of confirming whether she would be returning to Clarkson’s Farm, she did admit to harbouring ambitions of purchasing her own farm in the future alongside partner James Booth.

She went on to say: “I just want somewhere that’s mine that I can just say, you know, I want to grow store cattle and sell them for fat or whatever.

“I want it to be all mine, that I’ve done all that, and look at them and say, ‘I’ve done that’. So that’s the plan, a few very exciting new TV things coming off and YouTube I’m c**p at.”

Jeremy Clarkson’s choir has reportedly landed a starring role on his new series after wowing with their Britain’s Got Talent audition that sent them straight to the semi-finals

Jeremy Clarkson’s choir has landed a starring role on his new series after wowing with their Britain’s Got Talent audition. The former Top Gear presenter, 66, has documented the ups and downs of Diddly Squat in the Cotswolds on his Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm since 2021, with a fifth batch of episodes expected to be released later this year.

Just weeks ago, Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir auditioned for the ITV reality competition and managed to win Amanda Holden’s Golden Buzzer, sending them straight through to the semi-finals after wowing with a rendition of Elbow classic One Day Like This. Just prior to belting out the famous track, member Katrina explained to the judges that Jeremy himself had set the choir up, having been sponsored by the Hawkstone Brewery that the TV star co-owns in the Cotswolds.

With the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent just weeks away, insiders have revealed that the group of more than 30 farmers, will also enjoy another television stint with a role on the next series of Clarkson’s Farm.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm teams up with iconic British homeware brand for a second timeREAD MORE: Jeremy Clarkson shows off birthday cake given to him by David Beckham

A source said: “Filming for series five is well and truly under way and the finished show is likely to air next year. Fans will, however, be able to see series four in a matter of weeks, though according to Jeremy it’s a rather darker season than we’ve been used to.”

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “Hawkstone Farmers’ ChoirBut the appearance of the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir in the following outing is going to make it more uplifting. They’re going to have to get used to being even more famous though.”

Just after their success on BGT was aired in March, Jeremy took to social media to congratulate them. He said: “I watched Britain’s Got Talent tonight for the first time because the Hawkstone Choir were on and they were just fantastic.

“These guys are all farmers and they work incredibly hard for really incredibly small rewards, and to see them all on that stage with all that love in the room made my heart sing – I actually welled up.”

While visibly holding back tears he went on to thank Amanda Holden for pressing the Golden Buzzer. He added: “It shows that people quite like farmers. They were very very good, well done all of you. I’m a very happy man tonight.”

The short video attracted comments from fellow BGT viewers, one wrote: “I was crying like a baby, the sentiment, the emotion, they’re sensational. They Will Win.” Another wrote: “Truly awesome really heartfelt.”

Speaking about getting the Golden Buzzer, Katryna Shell from Northumberland said: “The choir has turned into something so much more than singing…

“We have come together as a community, something I didn’t even anticipate. The choir is filled with all sorts of people with varying ages, singing experience, parts of the country, but we all have farming linking us together – it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

Hugh Thomas, from Pembrokeshire said: “I had to pinch myself – this was really happening to an old boy from Pembrokeshire! Performing on National TV wasn’t something I ever envisaged… More importantly it will shine a light on agriculture, farming and the rural economy.”

Like this s tory? F or more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .