Life After Top Gear
Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has once again lifted the lid on the challenges of life as a farmer at his Oxfordshire estate, Diddly Squat Farm. The 65-year-old TV personality, who has run the farm for six years, admits that the past months have tested him in unexpected ways.
Clarkson originally purchased the 1,000-acre property back in 2008, when it was still known as Kurdle Hill Farm. For years, it was managed by a tenant farmer—until Clarkson decided to take over himself. His farming journey, filled with both chaos and comedy, has since been documented in Amazon Prime’s hit series Clarkson’s Farm.
A Spiral of Despair
While the show has highlighted Clarkson’s battles with unpredictable harvests, livestock challenges, and bureaucratic red tape, his latest setback involves a much more personal struggle: raising puppies.
Recently, Clarkson welcomed 11 Red Fox Labrador puppies to the farm. While the arrival of the litter was initially heartwarming, complications soon followed. The puppies’ mother developed mastitis, a painful condition in which a dog’s mammary glands become swollen and inflamed. As a result, she could no longer properly feed her pups.
“To stop the puppies trying to get on a teat, we had to move her out of their pen,” Clarkson wrote in The Sun. “This has sent her into such a spiral of despair that all she does all day is stare at the floor or wander around the garden digging up every single one of the plants we have.”
Diversifying the Farm
Fans of Clarkson’s Farm know that Jeremy has not limited himself to crops and cattle. In 2024, he opened The Farmer’s Dog, a country pub designed to support British farming and showcase locally sourced produce. Despite a rocky start—including a staff walkout during its opening month—the pub marked its first anniversary in August 2025 with surprising success.
“Exactly a year ago, we opened The Farmer’s Dog to support British farming. Today, there are 146 people on the payroll, and I’d like to thank every single one of them for making it such a roaring success,” Clarkson shared with fans on Instagram.
A British Pub With a Twist
Clarkson insisted that every dish and drink at the pub should be grown or made in Britain, including his own beer, Hawkstone Lager. Yet, he admitted there was one exception: the gin and tonic.
“You can’t have a pub that doesn’t offer a gin and tonic,” he explained. “But there is quinine in tonic water, and you can’t grow that in Britain. Sure, I could have served gin and water instead, but I didn’t think you’d enjoy it very much—especially as instead of a slice of lemon, you’d have been given a slice of turnip or some potato peelings.”
Clarkson’s Balancing Act
Between farming setbacks, puppy chaos, and running a busy pub, Clarkson’s life remains anything but quiet. His determination to champion British farming while battling the everyday chaos of rural life has turned him into an unlikely advocate for the industry—one whose struggles, failures, and occasional triumphs continue to resonate with millions of fans.
