Clarkson’s Farm star Jeremy Clarkson has spoken out on rumours he could follow Richard Hammond and leave his Oxfordshire farm, responding to ‘fearful’ residents with a brutal dig
Richard Hammond’s move to a six-bedroom Georgian manor house in Abergavenny, Wales, has reportedly left some residents uneasy, with concerns that his former Grand Tour colleague Jeremy Clarkson might follow, potentially leaving his well-known farm behind.
Jeremy currently lives in Oxfordshire, where he manages Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington and The Farmer’s Dog pub in Asthall. However, the Abergavenny Chronicle has reported that Welsh locals are worried that once the farmer “gets wind of just how lovely Abergavenny and its wider environs are” from Richard, he may be enticed to acquire property in the region as well.
A representative from Not In Our Backyard (NOB) commented: “Apart from the occasional sighting in the frozen aisle at the local supermarket, Mr Hammond has kept a very low profile.”
They continued: “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Mr Clarkson. Since he has set up camp at Diddly Squat Farm, Chipping Norton has turned into an absolute circus.”
Nevertheless, the Clarkson’s Farm presenter has addressed these rumours directly in his latest column, while taking a pointed swipe at his Top Gear colleague’s well-documented history of car crashes.
In The Sun, Jeremy wrote: “Residents in the pretty Welsh town of Abergavenny said this week that after Richard Hammond bought a house in the area, they were ‘fearful’ that I’d do the same thing.”
He added: “Well relax, boyos, because why would I want to live near Richard Hammond?
“The roads are dangerous enough as it is without having to worry about him coming round the corner, on fire and on his roof.”
The jibe references Richard’s multiple serious accidents while filming both Top Gear and The Grand Tour alongside Jeremy and James May, most notably a life-threatening incident in 2006 when he was driving a Vampire Dragster.
Despite the trio choosing to conclude their successful television partnership in 2024 after 22 years, they’ve maintained their friendship and continue to champion each other’s individual ventures.
Speaking recently to the Oxford Mail about their ongoing friendship, Richard confirmed: “We still talk. We always used to be asked that a lot, but we were together so much filming that the only way to spend more time together would have been to marry one another, really.”
He elaborated: “We had time to go home, unpack, catch up, remember where you lived, and we were all together again, so we never got into the habit of massively socialising together.”
Adding: “We do as we’ll meet up at parties and events and always shall, obviously, as you don’t spend nearly 25 years working with people and not become friends.”
