Jeremy Clarkson was forced to close his Oxfordshire Diddly Squat farm shop for two months after the local council demanded its roof was replaced, but he’s managed to find an alluring way to promote his products nevertheless.
The petrolhead shared a photograph, from his sunshine holiday overseas, of his girlfriend Lisa Hogan wearing a £20 bucket hat embroidered with the Diddly Squat logo.
‘Old lady in a hat’, Clarkson, 61, wrote unflatteringly next to the picture of the 49-year-old former model and actress.
‘Old lady in a hat’: Jeremy Clarkson’s girlfriend Lisa Hogan, 47, modelled a swimsuit to promote £20 Diddly Squat bucket hat after the broadcaster, 61, closed his farm shop for two months
He hasn’t divulged their location, but they’ve previously enjoyed January holidays in the Caribbean.
Hogan is known to work behind the counter at the hugely popular farm shop but, even in the summer, does tend to put more clothes on.
Last month, Clarkson bid a temporarily farewell to his Diddly Squat Farm after the two-month long closure of his farm shop was announced.
Fans were left heartbroken when it was recently announced the shop would be closing its doors to customers throughout January and February.
Cute couple: Clarkson and Hogan have been dating since March 2017, two years after he split from wife Frances Cain (pictured in 2020)
The estate has been popular with locals and those from further afield, with many rushing to the farm on New Year’s Eve before its eight-week closure.
Ahead of its closure, the Diddy Squat Farm posted a message to customers reading: ‘Thank you to everyone who visited. Happy New Year.
Hat’s a good look: Jeremy managed to find an alluring way to promote his £20 hat
‘See you in March. Milk machine remains open 24/7.’
The closure was announced at the end of December alongside a snap of Jeremy shared to Instagram.
They wrote: ‘Diddly Squat Farm Shop open 9.30-4pm until 31st December. Closed January & February.’
The shop describes itself as ‘a small barn full of good, no-nonsense things you’ll like’.
Clarkson and Hogan have been dating since March 2017, two years after he split from wife Frances Cain.
The former Top Gear host previously gushed over his ‘ageless’ girlfriend on-air and claimed he’s ‘never been happier’.
Shut down: Clarkson was forced to close his Oxfordshire Diddly Squat farm shop for two months after the local council demanded its roof was replaced
He discussed their 13-year age gap on talkRADIO and said: ‘I get older and older and it makes people goy, “oh, that’s a bit weird”.
‘But we are age and height appropriate, and we have a lovely, lovely time together on that farm, we really do. Lisa and I were at the lambing parlour and they had just been born and it had gone pretty well.’
‘We were sitting there with a bottle of rosé and it was a beautiful evening, and I thought “I’ve never been happier at work than this”.’
Plans: Clarkson has been backed by fellow farmers, food producers and local Oxfordshire residents after his plans to build a hilltop restaurant were turned down by the council (Pictured: The landscape proposal for Diddly Squat Farm)
Pictured: The planting proposal for the cafe which would sit just behind his current farm shop on the site
Discussing her participation in his show, Clarkson’s Farm, he continued: ‘She describes me as chaotic and brilliant in the show but she normally calls me a lot worse than that.
‘Lisa’s role in the programme is really to roll her eyes at me.”’
Meanwhile, Clarkson has been backed by fellow farmers, food producers and local Oxfordshire residents after his plans to build a hilltop restaurant were turned down by the council.
DON’T KNOW SQUAT? OTHER ITEMS ON SALE AT DIDDLY FARM
Tractor logo T-shirt – £21.50
Birds of Diddly Squat artwork – £12.00
A Year on the Farm Book and Tea Towel – £28.99
For sale: Bobble Beanie – £22.50
Winter Spices and Seasonings – £5.80
Bobble Beanie – £22.50
Gin in a Tin – 50cl – £41.00
For sale: Wooden Spoon – £9.90
Bee Juice and Honey Dipper – £16.50
Ground Coffee – £6.95
Boll**ks Candle – £22.50
For sale: Boll**ks Candle – £22.50
Animal Tote Bag – £18.50
Apron – £19.50
Tractor Key Ring – £4.95
For sale: Bee Juice and Honey Dipper – £16.50
Diddly Squat Fudge – £4.80
Cow Juice – £1.00
Farm Gin in a Tin Box – Set of four – £26.00
Wooden Spoon – £9.90
For sale: Cow Juice – £1.00
He bought the plot of land in 2008 and documentary series Clarkson’s Farm follows the presenter’s highs and lows of tackling a 1,000 acre working farm.
The Amazon Prime star said he was ‘very’ frustrated after local officials refused his attempt to build a new restaurant and 70-space car park on the site of his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat farm near the quiet village of Chadlington, Oxfordshire.
Clarkson personally attended a meeting of West Oxfordshire District Council’s planning sub-committee on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to push his plans through but seven out of ten councillors voted against the plans.
The Grand Tour host left the meeting saying it was a bad day for farmers and labelled one of the planning officials a comedian.
But he has found support in his community among those who say council planners are dismissive of new ideas in farming.
Since the Amazon show’s debut last summer, hundreds of Clarkson fans from across Britain have caused traffic chaos by queueing for hours at a time to get inside the star’s beloved farm shop.
One neighbour even brought a legal challenge against the restaurant plans, alleging that the area was in danger of becoming a ‘Jeremy Clarkson theme park’.
At a meeting earlier this month, Clarkson insisted that he is simply trying to ‘diversify’ his business and warned that farmers will be unable to properly look after the natural environment because of their finances.
‘Farmers look after the woodland, they look after the hedges, the streams and the fields, they keep it beautiful,’ he said.
‘Farmers are not going to be able to do that for much longer because of the farmers’s state of finances. We have been told as farmers to diversify — that is exactly what this proposal is.’
Though councillors at the meeting were split over Mr Clarkson’s proposals, local officials agreed to refuse permission.
They argued that the cafe would be ‘out of keeping’ with the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Council planning officer Joan Desmond said: ‘By reason of its siting, design, scale and location, the proposed development would not be sustainable and would not be compatible or consistent in scale with the existing farming business or its open countryside location.
‘By reason of its design, scale, siting and nature of the use within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the proposed development would have a visually intrusive and harmful impact on the rural character, scenic beauty and tranquillity of the area.’
Councillor Dean Temple, who represents Chadlington, told the meeting: ‘With a heavy heart, I propose we reject this proposal.’
And councillor Elizabeth Poskitt added: ‘There are plenty of less obtrusive places where one could have a restaurant.’
The TV presenter had hoped to convert a lambing shed built in 2020 after buying a new flock of sheep to expand the farm business. It has now been merged with another local farmer’s flock.
Documents state that the building has since been used, without planning permission, as a cafe and a bar area.
Chadlington Parish Council said it held a public meeting in November to decide its view on the ‘divisive and contentious’ application, but a vote was inconclusive.
Campaign to Protect Rural England West Oxfordshire said any new restaurant would be a ‘major incursion’ into the AONB and would ‘spoil the rural nature of the Upper Evenlode Valley’.
Mr Clarkson’s representatives had already been forced to change transport plans for the scheme with a new one way system and overflow car park to try and appease the mounting number of objectors.
He had also been served with a notice following complaints that the farm shop had breached original planning conditions by selling out-of-town souvenirs.
The council served the contravention notice amid allegations that products sold in its shop were not grown, reared or produced on the farm, or from other local producers.
If proved, that would be in contravention of a condition of the planning permission in November 2019, the council warned.
Supported: Clarkson has been backed by fellow farmers, food producers and local Oxfordshire residents after his plans to build a hilltop restaurant were turned down
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