Tag: Clarkson

Diddly Squat: ’Til The Cows Come Home by Jeremy Clarkson (Review #12)

Diddly Squat: ’Til The Cows Come Home by Jeremy Clarkson

Blurb

The seeds are being sown, the soil turned, the farm shop restocked – that’s right, it’s time for another riotous trip to Diddly Squat Farm with farmer-in-progress Jeremy Clarkson . . .

Welcome back to Clarkson’s Farm.

At the end of Jeremy’s first year in the tractor’s driving seat, Diddly Squat farm rewarded him with a profit of just £144. So, while he’s the first to admit that he’s still only a ‘trainee farmer’*, there is clearly still work to be done.

Because while he’s mastered the art of moaning about nearly everything, some of the other attributes required of a successful farmer prove more of a challenge.

Who knew, for instance . . .

That loading a grain trailer was more demanding than flying an Apache gunship?

That cows were more dangerous than motor-racing?

Or that it would have been easier to get planning permission to build a nuclear power station than to turn an old barn into a farm restaurant?

But if the council planning department and the local red trouser brigade seem determined to frustrate his schemes at every turn, at least he’s got Lisa, Kaleb, Cheerful Charlie and Gerald, his dry-stone-walling Head of Security to see him through.

Life on Clarkson’s Farm may not always go according to plan. There may not always be one. But there’s not a day goes by when Jeremy can’t say ‘I’ve done a thing’ and mean it . . .

Review

Like the first Clarkson’s Farm book I flew through this book and could have easily read it in one sitting. The format was the same as the first book which I love and the illustrations that marked the different chapters were beautiful. 

The main thing I loved about this book was that Lisa, Kaleb and Charlie featured more and they had their say which didn’t happen in the first book. Like the first book Clarkson really highlights the plight of farmers in the UK and all the red tape they have to work through and I think it was highlighted even more in this book because we learn about the situations of farmers who are local to Clarkson’s farm. 

I found this book even funnier than the first book and I actually enjoyed it more than the first. Clarkson calls himself a trainee farmer and he really is but he is also willing to learn and will try his hand at anything. Even if this means Kaleb coming along and shouting at him for doing it wrong. At least Clarkson is willing to try. 

I can’t wait for the next instalment of Clarkson’s farm and really hope that Clarkson does succeed with beating the council and getting his restaurant. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons. 

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

About the author

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born April 11, 1960) is an English broadcaster and writer who specialises in motoring.

He writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun, but is better known for his role on the BBC television programme Top Gear.

From a career as a local journalist in the north of England, he rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s Clarkson has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects such as history and engineering. From 1998 to 2000 he also hosted his own chat show, Clarkson.

Etsy

Diddly Squat – A Year on the Farm by Jeremy Clarkson (Review #10)

Diddly Squat – A Year on the Farm by Jeremy Clarkson

Blurb

An idyllic spot offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows and natural springs, it’s the perfect plot of land for someone to delegate the actual, you know, farming to someone else while he galivants around the world in cars.

Until one day, Jeremy decided he would do the farming itself.

After all, how hard could it be? . . .

Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to ‘do farming’, Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor.

Fortunately, there’s help at hand from a large and (mostly) willing team, including girlfriend Lisa, Kaleb the Tractor Driver, Cheerful Charlie, Ellen the Shepherd and Gerald, his Head of Security and Dry Stone Waller.

Between them, they enthusiastically cultivate crops, rear livestock and hens, keep bees, bottle spring water and open a farm shop. But profits remain elusive.

And yet while the farm may be called Diddly Squat for good reason, Jeremy soon begins to understand that it’s worth a whole lot more to him than pounds, shillings and pence . . .

Review

I am a huge fan on Clarkson’s Farm but have only just got around to reading his first book about the farm. 

This is my first book by Jeremy Clarkson and it will definitely not be my last. The thing I really liked about this book was the format it was written in. I know that all these chapters are in fact from his column that he writes but I loved the shortness of each section and all the stories covered. The second thing I loved was the fact you get details in the book that you don’t get in the TV programme. One of these details is about the pigs that Clarkson gets for the farm. 

Clarkson really highlights the problems that farmers face on a daily basis. The constant battles with the weather, the rules and regulations, competing with the price of food from abroad and much more. Clarkson faces all these troubles and tries to find ways to overcome them. He tries to diversify his farm and turn it into a successful business that helps everyone including the wildlife. 

This book was a very quick read and one that I could easily read in one sitting. I loved all the aspects it covered and the extra details it gives. It is an informative and funny read that made me laugh and I learned a lot. I would have loved more about Kaleb, Gerald, and Charlie though as I found that they were rather lacking in this book but appear a lot more in the second which made it an even better read. Overall, I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons. 

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

About the author

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born April 11, 1960) is an English broadcaster and writer who specialises in motoring.

He writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun, but is better known for his role on the BBC television programme Top Gear.

From a career as a local journalist in the north of England, he rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s Clarkson has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects such as history and engineering. From 1998 to 2000 he also hosted his own chat show, Clarkson.

Etsy