Jeremy Clarkson has left his co-host Cheerful Charlie of Amazon’s Prime Clarkson’s Farm “banging his forehead on the table
Clarkson’s land agent who he has nicknamed Cheerful Charlie broke the news to him that he wants to grow spring barley next year as he has invested into a brewery and is set to launch his own lager.
Clarkson wrote in his latest column today of the moment he broke the news to his land agent and co-host.
The Grand Tour host claimed his colleague, Cheerful Charlie “rhythmically banged his forehead on the table” after hearing he wants to grow spring barley at Diddly Squat farm.
Clarkson and his business partners have named the lager Hawkstone after the neolothic stone which stands in the Cotswolds, but this new venture was not matched by Charlie.
Charlie gave his concerns to Clarkson as the lager will include three types of wheat, two types of oilseed rape, potatoes, echium and there will need to be grassland for his cows and then there is the winter barley.
Clarkson said, “While we were celebrating our genius with the name, Cheerful Charlie, turned up with the crop plan he’d devised.
“But no spring barley at all.
“I don’t know why beer has to be made from barley that’s planted in March rather than September, but it does. And Charlie had left it out.”
Charlie made his feelings quite clear over the venture and said, “‘I know.’ ‘It’s always disastrous on your farm, so I didn’t think we’d bother any more.’”
Clarkson added, “I pulled my special crestfallen face and explained that I’d just invested in a brewery that would use my barley and that we had a name and everything.
“‘Ah,’ said Charlie, before gently rolling his eyes and rhythmically banging his forehead on the table.”
Clarkson is to have a meeting with other farmers to try and set up a co-operative malting operation, to hopefully make more profit.
Writing in The Sunday Times he wrote, “Everyone at Diddly Squat is fully engaged with the idea of diverting all our energy next year into careful spring barley farming.
“Even Charlie, who when I talked about it this morning said: ‘Oh God.’”
