Jeremy Clarkson considers Cotswolds pub purchase

Broadcaster, farmer and beer brand magnate Jeremy Clarkson is reportedly “in talks” over buying the Coach and Horses Inn in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.

After his ill-fated plans to open a restaurant at his Diddly Squat farm, a central plot point in the second series of hit Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, the petrolhead is apparently interested in the Grade II-listed Coach and Horses Inn, which is listed by Stonegate Pub Partners for a retail partnership tenancy.

Rumours are already circulating among locals, with one telling Local Democracy Reporting Service: “He owns Hawkstone Brewery just outside of Bourton and there is some discussion about planning applications with Cotswold District Council…He has been in talks about that but it has not got to the stage of a planning application yet, it’s very early days.”

Indeed, Clarkson claimed to have bought a pub back in 2022, though at the time he said: “I don’t know the name or where it is.”

His Grand Tour co-presenter James May happens to co-own a pub, The Royal Oak Swallowcliffe.

While many pubs across the UK are currently struggling, the length of the queues to visit Diddly Squat’s farm shop suggest that a Clarkson-backed pub venture could be very lucrative indeed. However, as Clarkson’s Farm repeatedly shows, high demand does not make the business any more profitable, with council red tape a major obstacle, even for celebrities.

Nik Antona, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) “welcomed” the possible news, expressing hope “that he would bring the same attention to the pub trade that he has to farming”.

Responding to the rumours of his planned investment, Clarkson said: ““I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”

There was controversy in late 2022 when Clarkson made certain comments about Meghan Markle, which prompted one pub to pull his Hawkstone lager from its taps.