Jeremy Clarkson reveals he's found his ‘true calling' after being called into action on Diddly Squat farm
The TV star, 65, who runs the 1,000-acre Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire, said he was called into action after one of his cows struggled to give birth last week.
1
Jeremy Clarkson has revealed his 'true calling' - being a midwife for cows
He wrote in The Sunday Times: 'I was on my own, and I don't mind admitting I was nervous.'
A calf 'got stuck for 90 minutes', and he had a 'tug-of-war' with it until it came out.
He said: 'I rushed over to it, scraping the gunk from its face before putting a bit of straw up its nose to make it sneeze and start breathing.
'And it did. And I simply cannot tell you how that feels.
'I was exhausted, my arms felt as though they were on fire, I was covered in slimy cow juice and faeces and I was smiling a smile that I simply didn't think would be possible in any kind of workplace.'
He added: 'I don't know what would have happened had I not been there. But I was.
'And now there is the most adorable little calf you've ever seen.
'I'm not exaggerating. I was enveloped in a Ready Brek glow of absolute joy, from the soles of my feet to the follicles on the top of my head.
'I've had some happy moments in farming but nothing gets even remotely close to this.'
Clarkson later said he was alerted to another cow giving birth by his 'moo call' alarm system, adding: 'I leapt out of bed and into the shed as if I'd been fired out of a destroyer's 5in gun.
Clarkson's Farm shares behind-the-scenes footage ahead of series 4
'And I sat there with the mother cow through the predawn blackness, and then the emergent birdsong, until five thirty, when I was called into action once again.
'I missed a whole night's sleep to bring that one into the world, and I didn't mind one bit.
'Because I ended up with another beautiful, wobbly-legged, blue-eyed bundle of perfection.
'And now here I am, a month off my 65th birthday, at a time when I should be thinking of taking up watercolour painting or pickleball. And all I want to do from now on is to be a midwife. For cows.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Jeremy Clarkson feeling 'nostalgic' as he makes Top Gear return after BBC exit
Jeremy Clarkson says he is feeling "nostalgic" as he reflected on his time on BBC show Top Gear now the broadcaster has started airing reruns of his series Jeremy Clarkson admits he is feeling "nostalgic" as he reflects on his Top Gear return. The Clarkson's Farm star fronted the hit BBC motoring show with James May and Richard Hammond. Following that, Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuiness and Chris Harris took over full time but the show was put on hiatus after Freddie suffered life changing injuries in a horrific accident on set. Now, the BBC have started airing old episodes of Top Gear, featuring Jeremy, Richard and James, something which has made Jeremy feel quite nostalgic as he reflected on his career so far and his decades on the show. It comes after one Top Gear host admitted he 'never got along' with Jeremy Clarkson as he made a bold statement. Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones split as he joins a notorious dating app on a lads' holiday Taylor Swift sparks engagement rumours as fans spot Travis Kelce's lock screen "It's lovely actually. Sunday nights without Top Gear feel a bit weird so no it's nice to see them coming back actually. I'm delighted," he told Time Radio, "You know the funny thing was last Sunday. I was wandering through the sitting room and it was on. I did pause for a few minutes. I did watch it and yeah it was quite nostalgic. "I think there were some pretty good shows in there. There were some pretty terrible ones as well but there were some good ones." Aside from Top Gear, it's been a tough week for Jeremy as he's been forced to close his Diddly Squat farm for two months after a breakout of bovine TB in his cattle. He said: "It's awful, it is awful. You have a test every six months on the cows and then you sort of become blasé, it's a hypothetical threat. And then the vet looks up as he did yesterday lunchtime and said 'I'm really sorry this one's failed'. So that means we're now locked down and it's just dreadful, absolutely dreadful. "It's only been not even 24 hours since I found out and it occupies my mind. Well it was occupying my mind but I got up this morning and found one of my puppies has died. And we've got a very sickly calf. Honestly, farming? I'm not enjoying it this week." Jeremy also revealed that the farm will be closed for "certainly two months because that's how long we have to wait before we do another test" but said that the farm shop was unaffected as "it's only cows that get affected by it".
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Jeremy Clarkson ‘not enjoying farming this week' after bovine TB found on farm
The TV star, 65, said he is also dealing with 'a very sickly calf', and discovered that one of his puppies had died on Friday morning. On Thursday, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that a pregnant cow had contracted the disease on his farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Bad news from Diddly Squat. We've gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated. — Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 31, 2025 Speaking to Times Radio Breakfast, he said: 'It's awful, it is awful. You have a test every six months on the cows and then you sort of become blase, it's a hypothetical threat. 'And then the vet looks up, as he did yesterday lunchtime, and said 'I'm really sorry this one's failed'. 'So that means we're now locked down and it's just dreadful, absolutely dreadful.' Cattle which fail a TB test, or animals that have inconclusive results for two consecutive tests, are classed as 'reactors', and must be isolated and slaughtered. Clarkson added: 'It's only been not even 24 hours since I found out and it occupies my mind. Well it was occupying my mind but I got up this morning and found one of my puppies has died. 'And we've got a very sickly calf. Honestly, farming? I'm not enjoying it this week.' Asked in the comments of his X post about the prize bull called Endgame, which Clarkson bought recently for £5,500, he said: 'His test was 'inconclusive'. I couldn't bear it if we lost him.' In a follow-up post, he said: 'The farm is NOT shut. We just can't buy or sell any cows.' Jeremy Clarkson (Aaron Chown/PA) Bovine TB is recognised as a problem which devastates farm businesses and is mainly spread through close contact when cattle breathe in droplets of mucus containing Mycobacterium bovis bacteria exhaled from an infectious animal. Badgers can carry the disease and culling has long been a part of the Government response to the crisis, despite criticism from wildlife and animal welfare campaigners, such as Queen guitarist Sir Brian May. The Government said in June it will not be extending the badger cull and retains its commitment to end the practice before the next election. Oxfordshire is an 'edge area' for bovine TB, meaning it is a buffer zone between high risk and low risk areas – so most herds are subject to six monthly TB tests by default. There have been several cases in the area of Oxfordshire near to Diddly Squat Farm in recent weeks, according to ibTB, a mapping platform for the disease in England and Wales. The every-day running of Clarkson's farm is documented in a Prime Video series, which first aired in 2021, and brings to light common problems faced by British farmers. Clarkson has become a vocal supporter of farmers and attended a protest in London against the Government's move to introduce inheritance tax on farmland in November 2024.
ITV News
2 hours ago
- ITV News
Jeremy Clarkson ‘not enjoying farming this week' after bovine TB found on Oxfordshire farm
Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has said he is 'not enjoying farming' at the moment, amid a week that has seen bovine tuberculosis found on his Diddly Squat Farm. The TV star, 65, said he is also dealing with 'a very sickly calf', and discovered that one of his puppies had died on Friday morning. On Thursday, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that a pregnant cow had contracted the disease on his farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Speaking to Times Radio Breakfast, he said: 'It's awful, it is awful. You have a test every six months on the cows and then you sort of become blase, it's a hypothetical threat. 'And then the vet looks up, as he did yesterday lunchtime, and said 'I'm really sorry this one's failed'. 'So that means we're now locked down and it's just dreadful, absolutely dreadful.' Cattle which fail a TB test, or animals that have inconclusive results for two consecutive tests, are classed as 'reactors', and must be isolated and slaughtered. Clarkson added: 'It's only been not even 24 hours since I found out and it occupies my mind. Well it was occupying my mind but I got up this morning and found one of my puppies has died. 'And we've got a very sickly calf. Honestly, farming? I'm not enjoying it this week.' Asked in the comments of his X post about the prize bull called Endgame, which Clarkson bought recently for £5,500, he said: 'His test was 'inconclusive'. I couldn't bear it if we lost him.' In a follow-up post, he said: 'The farm is NOT shut. We just can't buy or sell any cows.' Bovine TB is recognised as a problem which devastates farm businesses and is mainly spread through close contact when cattle breathe in droplets of mucus containing Mycobacterium bovis bacteria exhaled from an infectious animal. Badgers can carry the disease and culling has long been a part of the Government response to the crisis, despite criticism from wildlife and animal welfare campaigners, such as Queen guitarist Sir Brian May. The Government said in June it will not be extending the badger cull and retains its commitment to end the practice before the next election. Oxfordshire is an 'edge area' for bovine TB, meaning it is a buffer zone between high risk and low risk areas – so most herds are subject to six monthly TB tests by default. There have been several cases in the area of Oxfordshire near to Diddly Squat Farm in recent weeks, according to ibTB, a mapping platform for the disease in England and Wales. The every-day running of Clarkson's farm is documented in a Prime Video series, which first aired in 2021, and brings to light common problems faced by British farmers. Clarkson has become a vocal supporter of farmers and attended a protest in London against the Government's move to introduce inheritance tax on farmland in November 2024.
