Running a village pub is a very tough gig.
High running costs, variable foot traffic, the importance of word-of-mouth, and the identity crisis facing pubs that want to be all things to all people mean success in the pub game is often hard-won.
It certainly helps if you’ve got celebrity endorsement or, better yet, a celebrity landlord. For The Farmer’s Dog in Asthall near Burford, that’s exactly what it’s got.
The pub was renovated and opened by Jeremy Clarkson in August 2024, and you can catch up on the journey to opening the place in the latest season of Clarkson’s Farm now available on Amazon Prime.
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That’s right, a man who’d clearly bitten off more than he could chew by entering the world of farming has, true to form, stubbornly refused to learn his lesson. It makes for great telly, and Clarkson has clearly fallen in love with rural life, but opening a pub will have done nothing to curb his stress levels.
Still, despite having serious concerns about the eye-watering expense of renovating and reopening the place, it seems to be paying off in spades.
On opening day, The Farmer’s Dog was met with people queueing around the village to get in, and the place has scarcely had an empty seat since.
Now, running a pub is stressful in and of itself, but being the boots on the ground can be a real trial by fire. As anyone who’s worked in a busy pub restaurant or kitchen will know, sometimes you have to be running at 100mph just to keep up, and some shifts are a real test of mettle and endurance.
As a result, staff turnover is generally a regular challenge in the pub trade, and so it proved for Clarkson on day one of The Farmer’s Dog’s rebirth.
Speaking to his land agent Charlie Ireland on Clarkson’s Farm, the former Top Gear presenter revealed the casualties of his new pub’s explosively popular opening day.
"We've lost two waitresses,” he said. “We lost a pot washer. After one day."
Then speaking with his bar managers Sue and Rachel, they tell him: “Everyone is exhausted, even when we say go for a break, there is no staff room."
"They're weeing in a portaloo,” they continued. “It's not lovely conditions."
Clarkson, clearly troubled by the challenges facing his staff, was then reassured: "They love you. They're excited about the British food.”
The Farmer’s Dog is almost exclusively stocked with British-grown produce in a bid to support the nation’s farmers and manufacturers, hence that comment around excitement.
"I have no problem with the staff,” Clarkson insisted. “Not one single problem with the staff. They're all brilliant. They are smiling. They are nice."
Sue and Rachel then tell him that the kitchen is struggling to cope with demand, and they suggest he goes to see the state of it for himself.
"I just popped in," he said, upon which Sue and Rachel tell him to ‘go back’ and see it again.
Frustrated and exhausted, Clarkson then fell into a sarcastic outburst that didn’t end well for his rota. “Do you want me to go and find a manager? Or go back into the kitchen? Or do you want me to mend the leak? Or do you want me to deal with the car parking issues? Or do you want me to deal with the neighbours?
"Do you want me to deal with the council? I've got plenty to be doing and I'll get on with it. Thank you."
It seems that this straw was enough break both Sue and Rachel’s backs, and they both resigned soon after.
"The next problem is Sue and Rachel, who brilliantly set up the pub, have now left,” Clarkson reflected. “So it's a Sunday morning, I've managed to secure a new front of house person who is the head of sixth form at the local village school. That's good."
Welcome to the pub game, Jezza.
Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity
Rachael Davis