Hundreds flock to The Farmer's Dog in Oxfordshire as Jeremy Clarkson opens new pub

With queues snaking around the car park, Jeremy Clarkson’s latest venture, The Farmer’s Dog pub has opened its doors to the public. Promising homegrown food, a chalkboard at the entrance proudly proclaimed: “Everything we cook, serve and sell is grown or raised or produced in Great Britain - even the salt and pepper. This means we don't serve CocaCola or ketchup. #BackBritishFarming.”

The former TopGear presenter inevitably drew a large crowd for day one of the newly refurbished “Hawkstone filling station” as it has been nicknamed by staff. Punters began arriving in Asthall, near Burford in Oxfordshire, from around 8am this morning (August 23) for the midday opening.

Around 300 people had formed an orderly line, waiting for the doors to be opened. And on the stroke of noon, the former Top Gear presenter appeared, announcing to loud cheers, “We’re open!” Holding up his phone to show the time, Clarkson said: “We’re also not late. Welcome everybody.”

He was accompanied by his girlfriend Lisa Hogan and fellow stars from his hit Amazon show, Clarkson’s Farm, Kaleb Cooper, Charlie Ireland and Gerald Cooper. At the front of the queue were Lauren Hanly and Blake Jones, who had travelled from Gloucester.

Ms Hanly said they wanted to sample the food having previously visited Clarkson’s other businesses which feature in his hit Amazon series Clarkson’s Farm. “We got here just before 8am. We were surprised to be at the front. We thought it would be busier, earlier but then the gates weren’t opening until 7.30am,” she said.

“We have looked at the menu, but we are not sure what we will go for yet. I think it depends on how many pints I have. Having Jeremy Clarkson’s name on it, it is always going to do well.

“It is a destination site and people will come from all over, as well as the local community. We went to the Diddly Squat farm shop and the Hawkstone brewery and Jeremy Clarkson was there filming.”

Mr Jones added: “We did think about queuing overnight. We left about 7.30am and there were no queues or traffic and we went straight in.”

Earlier this year Clarkson revealed he had paid “less than £1 million” for the pub, then known as The Windmill, he wrote in his column for the Sunday Times: “There is some work to be done on the pub itself. For example, the cellar is too small, the gable end is falling down, the outside decking area is dangerous, the water is unfit for human consumption, the loft is full of dead rats and the lavatories are illegal.”

A post on the newly-created The Farmer’s Dog pub Instagram page this week revealed the extent of the renovation carried out in less than two months. It now boasts not only pub and restaurant facilities, but in the garden you will find a farm shop, butcher, off licence, and “a bar and outpost where you can grab a fantastic meaty snack to enjoy on the lawns”.