Jeremy Clarkson has shared his honest thoughts on the loneliness epidemic that is blighting rural areas in the UK, and has argued that local pubs are essential to combatting it.
In episode three of Clarkson’s Farm season four, the former Top Gear host is shown searching for a pub to buy and revamp into his own unique vision – one that would operate as a regular pub but also stock produce from his Diddly Squat farm.
However, after viewing numerous pubs that are no longer in business, Clarkson reflects on the seriousness of the issue.
While having a drink in his local pub, Clarkson tells the camera: “Loneliness is a big issue in rural areas and part of the problem is villages losing their soul.
“You don't have a village doctor anymore. He's in a health centre 30 miles away and you can't get an appointment. There's no village bobby on the beat. There's no village vicar, there's no village shop, there's no village school.
“If we end up at a point where there's no village pub then what is a village? It's just some houses. Pubs are the hub and it should always be that way.”
According to stats published in February 2025, around six pubs in the UK closed every week in 2024, resulting in approximately 4,500 job losses, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). London was the hardest hit region, witnessing the closure of 34 pubs.
The industry body warns that urgent government intervention is needed to prevent further “completely avoidable” closures.
Clarkson eventually paid less than £1m for his pub The Farmer’s Dog, formerly known as The Windmill, in Asthall, near Burford in Oxfordshire.
He opened the establishment in August 2024 and at the time described its impact on British farming as a “tiny pin prick”, but added: "If everyone does it, if all the farmers get together and buy a pub – as you can get a pub for chicken feed these days – it might work.”
Clarkson’s Farm is often praised for highlighting the problems facing the agricultural sector, as the TV star and his farming team learn about the financial and environmental challenges as they go along.
“I got into farming and found it is really difficult,” Clarkson added. “I’m not saving farming, I’m just reporting on it. I’ve been doing it five years and it is really difficult.”
Clarkson’s Farm season four begins on Prime Video on 23 May.
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