The home where Top Gear was born in young Jeremy's bizarre, all-black bedroom: Home Farm in Burghwallis is put up for sale

Mail on sunday 28 May 2017

It’s the house where all the crazy stunts that Jeremy Clarkson has got up to on Top Gear and The Grand Tour almost certainly began to take shape in the darker recesses of his schoolboy mind. The television presenter and journalist was raised at Home Farm, in the village of Burghwallis, near Doncaster, in the 1960s and 1970s – and the property can now be yours for £565,000.

Alistair Owens, a retired company director, and Florence, a retired nurse, both 68, bought the property from Jeremy’s parents, Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, in 1987. Alistair particularly remembers what Jeremy’s bedroom looked like: ‘It was all black, the carpet, walls, everything, and very difficult to get rid of, to paint over!’

He adds: ‘And there was also a bell in his room that was rigged up so they could ring him to tell him dinner was ready or whatever. I suppose it was easier than having to shout up the stairs!’

Clarkson, who lived at the property from the age of two until he left home, also shared the house with another character who has become instantly recognisable and is prone to getting into scrapes.

The first iconic toy Paddington Bears, which flew off the shelves in the 1970s, were brought to life at Home Farm by Clarkson’s mother. Shirley made the first ones in 1971 – and producing them grew into a business for her and her husband.

The Paddington production line started because every Christmas, Shirley, a designer who made tea cosies and draught-excluders, would make stuffed toys to sit on top of her children Jeremy and Joanna’s stockings.

In 1971, when Jeremy would have been 11, she made Paddington Bear toys for them, which became such a hit among the children’s friends that she and Eddie decided to produce them commercially, signing a licensing agreement with Paddington author Michael Bond.

‘Shirley started making them in the kitchen, and then the bedroom became the main production area,’ says Alistair Owens. ‘But then they expanded to the farm buildings and, in the end, they outgrew the premises here and converted a transport cafe about two miles away.

‘They were characters. Eddie was a typical salesman,’ Alistair adds. ‘Shirley was the business side of things but she openly admitted that she wasn’t a businesswoman to start off with. She just learnt by mistakes. Jeremy, when he left school, was their salesman for a bit too – that was his first job – but he quickly established that the retail market was not quite right for him.’

Florence says: ‘When Shirley came back to visit the house to be filmed for The One Show, she even remembered some of the marks on the flagstones.’

Alistair adds: ‘It was funny – when she was reminiscing about the house, Shirley said she’d love to buy it back but would only pay what she bought it for in the 1960s. They bought it for £1,000 because it was in such poor condition. There was no roof. Shirley described lots of ivy growing, but mostly on the inside of the house! They moved in and renovated it room by room.’

Florence says that Shirley, who died in 2014, remembered it as a warm family home. ‘They used to entertain an awful lot of Joanna and Jeremy’s friends. I think it was a very busy house because they entertained so much and they liked having young people around. It’s a family home and it’s just lovely when it’s full. There’s lots of space to tuck people away.’

Many of the Grade II listed property’s original features remain, including exposed beams and stone mullioned windows. The house has five bedrooms, one family bathroom and one en suite, and a farmhouse-style kitchen.

Florence’s attraction to the house was immediate ‘The one thing that sold it to us when we visited was that it had a lovely feel… and Eddie Clarkson was absolutely fantastic with our kids when we came to see the house that first time. He used to do marmalade sandwiches if children came. We didn’t know why at first, but it was because it was Paddington’s favourite food!’

The Owens are selling Home Farm in order to be nearer their family and are looking to buy in Market Harborough.