Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm Shop reopens after mystery closure with one family giving up after hour and a half queuing

Two months ago, Diddly Squat Farm Shop closed with no reason given. It reopened this weekend but mystery still remains as to why it hasn’t been open since last year.

However, it hasn’t deterred shoppers as, after its reopening was advertised on the store’s Instagram page, delighted fans from across the country - and world - turned up in their droves. Visitors and fans queued for more than an hour to visit the reopening of Jeremy Clarkson’s rural store on Saturday (March 1).

Many of the people attending the shop, which sells produce made on the former Top Gear presenter’s farm in Chadlington, first became interested in the farm through Clarkson’s Amazon Prime series about day-to-day life on the farm, featuring a host of beloved characters including farmer Kaleb Cooper.

Visitors came from far and wide, including Spain and India, to get a glimpse of the countryside and items available. They were not deterred by long wait-times and queued for up to an hour and a half to enter the tiny shop and look around.

The crowds sat on the benches and enjoyed the sun and views of sheep grazing in the fields behind. Visiting from Madrid, Spain, were grandparents Julio and Mercedes Espinosa.

Mr Espinosa, 67, said: “It is very interesting. It is beautiful - the landscape, the surroundings. We have seen an episode of the TV series and it’s very interesting. There are similarities between here and Spain. The situation with the farmers and the government here is similar to Spain but in Spain, it is worse.”

Antonio Espinosa and his wife Cristina, both veterinary surgeons living in Hampshire, had brought them to visit along with their children Aurelia, one and a half, and Luis, 20 days. Mrs Espinosa, 33, said: “To be honest, we only came because we were staying quite close and we decided to come and see what the real Clarkson farm shop is like.

“We have been doing a bit of tourism and I have been working around here with some horses. I really like it; I think it’s amazing. I think it is much better than it looks on television just because they did that car park that I think was a big issue. With this day, it’s just perfect.”

She said it was “super busy” and “a bit crowded”, claiming her family waited an hour and a half to get inside the shop and eventually gave up. But she added she was “in love” with everyone on the Amazon show. She said: “I love Jeremy, Kaleb is very funny too, but Gerald is the best.

“Jeremy is so natural and it’s so funny to see how he can, I guess, make this whole thing while knowing nothing. The risk he takes without worrying too much about it I think is hilarious. The place it’s located is amazing. I like this outside area and the bar more than the shop.”

Mr Espinosa added: “We have seen a lot of the series. The weather helps as well. It’s a bit expensive."

Nishu Alex, 39, who works in a supply chain, managed to make the journey to the shop while visiting for work from Bangalore, India. He first became a fan of Clarkson as a child while watching Top Gear.

Now, his wife, Neeta, is a fan of Clarkson’s Farm and asked him to bring her back a souvenir. Mr Alex said: “I think I’m very influenced by Jeremy in terms of his pick of cars.

“In India, we didn’t have nice cars so the only place we could see and learn about cars was Top Gear - and the only way we could watch it was via torrenting. The day [Clarkson’s Farm] released we finished it - that’s the only thing we watch together.”

Liyzie Wood, 37, of Little Rissington, ran a stall for her dog treat business Dibbles Nibbles. She sold a variety of animal parts for dogs to chew on, including rabbit ears, duck necks and antlers.

Ms Wood has been selling her produce at Diddly Squat for around a year and a half and said sales were good. She said it was “terrible” when the shop closed down. “For most of us that come and do pop-ups, this is our main place to come, so January and February were not fun for any of us. But it was okay.

“They got in touch with us and asked us to put the dates back in for this year. We all love coming here. You’ve got the epicentre of everyone, all different people. There’s such a vast audience - they’ve come from everywhere. They come from America, Canada - they fly over specifically to visit.”

The infamous £200 pies that stirred up controversy last year were absent from this year’s selection, but smaller pork pies were on sale for £7.20. “Jeremy’s” sausages and bacon were available, as well as “Diddly” eggs for £4.20, a range of cheeses, homemade pesto and pates and milkshakes and homemade apple juice from Clarkson’s orchard.