It has been almost one week since Jeremy Clarkson opened his brand new pub in Oxfordshire.
Having purchased The Windmill in Asthill near Burford for around £1,000,000 according to an interview earlier this year, the former Top Gear host has set about renovating the premises.
Now named The Farmer’s Dog, relating to his own pets and his farm in Chadlington, the watering hole opened its doors on Friday, August 23.
There were queues and hundreds of fans as Mr Clarkson, as well as his partner Lisa Hogan and Clarkson’s Farm stars Caleb Cooper, Gerald Cooper and Charlie Ireland, greeted the crowds.
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I made my way over to the pub with my partner Jordyn a couple of days after in an attempt to beat some of the queues.
As we arrived on Sunday we found this to be far from the case with the venue being a popular spot for the August bank holiday weekend.
We parked in the overflow car park which, for the uninitiated, was a field beside the pub and made our way across for a drink.
Crossing through the wooded area to reach the pub was quite tranquil but we were confronted with a set of portable toilets which had recently been set up.
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During the recent soft opening of the pub, someone had managed to damage the toilets inside The Farmer's Dog forcing Mr Clarkson’s hand which left the inside toilets still shut on Sunday.
I had not used one since a music festival prior to the pandemic so getting the chance to step into one once again without loo roll or sanitiser was far from an enriching experience.
We were then faced with two queues. A very, very long one reaching back to the field or a shorter one close to the pub’s signage.
Opting to stand in the longer one and make the mistake of not asking which it was, we ended up spending five minutes there.
READ MORE: ‘Jeremy Clarkson poured me a pint at his new Cotswolds pub’
It transpired this was the queue for the carvery and as we were standing there, Mr Clarkson himself sped past in the car park leaving the pub.
We swapped queues and waited around 15 minutes before being allowed into the venue to which we then faced a short and final queue for the bar.
I ordered a pint of Hawkstone Lager and, to my surprise, we managed to find a seat thanks to a lucky opening.
As we chatted and had our drinks we saw Mr Clarkson’s partner Lisa walk past and head on up to the top level as more punters entered and made their orders.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson hints at next venture after pub opening and farm
The atmosphere inside was friendly, pleasant and everything a pub should be and it was great to see The Windmill’s building reopened with a fresh lease of life.
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