Jeremy Clarkson has opened up about the chaotic final days before his pub, The Farmer’s Dog, opened its doors to the public, revealing one moment that left him reeling
Jeremy Clarkson says he “fainted” just days before launching his new Cotswolds pub, The Farmer’s Dog, after being hit with a staggering £350,000 quote to fix the electricity system.
In 2024, the former The Grand Tour presenter decided to open a pub near his Oxfordshire farm. The Farmer’s Dog — situated close to his Chipping Norton estate — now attracts hundreds of punters daily, serving local produce, including meat and ale from the farm itself.
But according to Clarkson, the final days before the grand opening were anything but plain sailing.
Penning his latest book, Diddly Squat: The Farmer’s Dog, the 65-year-old revealed he had braced himself for the typical pre-launch chaos but instead faced a string of disasters that nearly broke him. The most pressing crisis emerged from the kitchen team, who swiftly spotted that something was drastically wrong with the pub’s electrical system.
“There was no time to worry about anything because there were other issues, such as electricity,” Clarkson revealed. “No one can really explain what this is. We know how to make it, and we know what it does when you apply it to a lightbulb. But science isn’t able to explain exactly what’s going on. So we don’t ever bother thinking about it,” reports Wales Online.
That all changed the instant he switched everything on.
According to Clarkson, the massive extractor fan above the ovens immediately failed, triggering a safety mechanism that also cut the gas supply. This left his newly recruited chef powerless to prepare any dishes before delivering a dire ultimatum to Clarkson.
“This made cooking tricky. ‘No, not tricky,’ said the chef. ‘It’s impossible.'”
The chef then warned that without upgrading the electrical system, the pub wouldn’t be able to open.
Clarkson quickly discovered that the only solution was installing a three-phase power system — an industrial-level upgrade typically reserved for large kitchens and commercial premises.
But the price tag left him stunned.
“How much would that cost? Well, there’s only one company that can supply this to me, so it can charge what it likes. So it does,” he wrote. “The last number I heard, before I fainted, was £350,000.”
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Clarkson and his team were just three days from opening, managing a menu he feared might bankrupt them, while electricity was so unreliable that even boiling a kettle risked another power cut.
Clarkson revealed that the final preparations were hampered by further setbacks, including red tape and costly mishaps. From debating whether to fit a defibrillator behind the bar to grappling with fire safety regulations for a chromed vintage tractor meant to hang from the ceiling, the process was riddled with unforeseen complications.
Source: Mirror
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