Diddly Squat Farm update: Clarkson makes a tough call after offering a ‘sad’ admission

Jeremy Clarkson says he noticed one thing when he took over Diddly Squat Farm in 2019, prompting him to bring in an expert to help him make changes around the plot

Jeremy Clarkson says a moment on Diddly Squat Farm left him “sad”. The former Top Gear presenter bought a thousand acres of land, including Curdle Hill Farm, in 2008.

The Chipping Norton site was run by a tenant, but when they left in 2019 Jeremy decided to have a go at farming himself. His journey into all things agriculture has been documented by the hit Amazon Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm.

When he first started farming six years ago, Jeremy says he was saddened when he realised how few birds there were circling Diddly Squat.

Writing in the Sunday Times magazine, he said: “Since 1970 their numbers have plummeted by more than 60 per cent, and when I first bought Diddly Squat this sorry state of affairs was obvious. I’d go for a walk and the skies were completely empty.”

The star added: “This made me sad, so when I started farming the land seven years ago I decided to do something about it. Away from the roads, I stopped trimming the hedges and widened the margins round the edges of the fields.”

Jeremy says farmers have to leave between four and six metres around the edges of fields, but in places he decided he would leave 10 in order to promote a healthy environment for the birds. He does however concede this meant he produced less food.

Jeremy also found himself digging ponds across Diddly Squat. While he jokes this is because he “loves using diggers,” he also says it provides a water source that he hopes would bring back farm land birds.

Jeremy later planted “wildflower strips” around the farm to encourage insects as “tasty snacks” for the birds. Jeremy eventually found himself reaching out to bird expert Hannah Bourne-Taylor.

Hannah once made headlines when she extended a trip to Ghana by 84 days because a bird nested in her hair. Jeremy explains she encouraged him to make more chances at Diddly Squat, including planting “all sorts of things with Latin names”.

The dry weather however meant that none of the flowers actually grew. Jeremy added: “She’s also told me to rent a digger and make more ponds, because birds don’t like to travel.

“A corn bunting, for example, rarely strays more than a mile or so from the hedge where it was born.”

The former Grand Tour star says Hannah eventually found 45 different species of bird at Diddly Squat. Meanwhile the average farm is just home to 27, he claims.

Among the species found at Jeremy’s farm were whitethroats, goldfinches, buntings, and skylarks. He says that while most of the birds were “small and boring,” he was pleased to see his work paid off.