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Clarkson offered £1m for pub ‘within minutes’ of meeting landlady
TV presenter, media personality and brewer Jeremy Clarkson offered £1m for a pub within minutes of meeting the landlady, according to reports.
Realising the pub’s incredible potential for him to sell his Hawkstone beers as well as set-up for a new TV series, The Grand Tour and former Top Gear presenter offered landlady Jackie Walker £1m for the pub, as soon as he walked through the door — and despite it not even being on the market.
The Windmill, which is located in the Windrush Valley and only 10 miles from Clarkson’s infamous Diddly Squat Farm, was deemed by Clarkson to be the perfect location for his next venture.
Walker, who has owned the pub since 1983 and used to run it with her late husband, was shocked by Clarkson’s interest.
But the deal made sense, as the freehold to the pub isn’t tied to a brewery, meaning Clarkson can use it as a vehicle for his Hawkstone beer brand, as well as selling produce from his Diddly Squat estate.
Walker told the Daily Mail that a film crew entered the pub and Clarkson came in and “asked if I was interested in selling”, he then made the massive offer, which she accepted immediately.
Laughing
She said: “It did make me laugh, but that is Jeremy Clarkson.”
Although she had not been planning on selling the pub, which formerly was a soup kitchen run by the Mitford sisters in the Second World War, and also is popular with airmen and women from nearby RAF Brize Norton, she said she “wasn’t getting any younger”.
Walker said she discussed terms for the pub with Clarkson and his partner before inking the deal, stating that she hopes they “make a big success of the place” and “restore it back to how it was”.
Restoration
In recent years, following Walker’s husband’s death, leaseholders have been operating the venue, and in Clarkson’s Sunday Times column he has not been critical of the pub’s condition, claiming decking is unsafe, water isn’t fit for human consumption and the lavatories are “illegal”.
Work on the pub has already begun and the whole project is being filmed by the production company that works with Clarkson for Amazon Prime.
Clarkson’s vision is to run a “club house”, where farmers will get a free pint, and only British food, much from Diddly Squat, will be served. It will, of course, also serve Hawkstone beers.
According to reports, Clarkson aims to re-open the pub later this year.