James May and Jeremy Clarkson have long had a friendly rivalry over their respective pubs since the latter opened The Farmer’s Dog in 2024, three years after the former opened his
Since leaving The Grand Tour, former Top Gear presenter James May has joined fellow former co-host Jeremy Clarkson in opening his own pub. While Jeremy, 65, runs The Farmer’s Dog in Asthall, Oxfordshire, James’ venture, The Royal Oak, is located in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire.
Both pubs have managed to survive since opening in 2021 and 2024 respectively, with the venues enjoying a friendly rivalry thanks to their famous former co-hosts.
Last year, in an interview, James — who turns 63 today — heaped praise on his own pub as the ideal place to be in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
He told The Guardian: “Oh, mine. It’s in Wiltshire. We’re heavily armed down here. People queue up at Clarkson’s. There’s queueing protocol going on, which I don’t like.
“We’ve had this argument many times. The whole point of the bar in a pub is that it’s wide and shallow. It’s not a hatch. Why would you queue at it? Good bar people know the order in which to serve.”
This is not the first time the former petrolhead presenters have taken swipes at each other, with Jeremy reportedly banning James from his pub last year.
In response, James hit back when he appeared on Lorraine saying it was “like being banned from the golf club”.
He explained: “Apparently, and I’ve said before it’s a bit like being banned from a golf club, I wasn’t going to go anyway. I’ve got my own pub which is just around the corner, I’m not going to go 75 miles to his. Especially as mine’s better.”
Despite the jabs, the rivalry between James and Jeremy has remained friendly, with Clarkson maintaining that the pair would never have been able to work together for decades if they truly disliked one another.
The Mirror reported that Jeremy said: “We’ve spent more time in each other’s company than our families’ over the last 25 years, so I don’t think it would have lasted as long as it did if we’d hated each other as much as James likes to think.”
Nevertheless, outside of their pub-to-pub rivalry, both men have had to contend with the harsh financial realities facing pubs and restaurants across the UK.
Appearing on LBC earlier this year, James offered a candid assessment of the challenges involved in running a business like his.
He told Nick Ferrari: “The margins are tiny, and one bit of old 18th-century thatch falling off, or in our case, having to resurface the gravelly car park, can be enough to push you over the edge.
“I think we do have to stop thinking of pubs of an important part of our heritage or a vital tradition, an institution, or an essential part of being British, or any of that misty eyed stuff they have to work as pubs, they have to be nice places to go.”
