Oxford News
Countryfile legend John Craven, 85, reveals funeral plans
Mr Craven has presented the popular BBC rural affairs show for 37 years, having started in 1989.
Prior to that, the TV host had a 17-year stint on Newsround, having launched it on the BBC in 1972.
Away from TV, the 85-year-old lives in a village near Banbury with his wife, where the couple brought up two daughters.
READ MORE: TV legend praises Jeremy Clarkson after meeting him at Cotswolds pub
In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Mr Craven previously revealed that he wanted his ashes to be scattered at his favourite spot in Yorkshire.
“Still one of my favourite places in the world is Wharfedale and Otley Chevin, where I used to cycle with my mates,” he said.
“I love the coast too, especially Whitby, though we had family holidays in Bridlington because I suspect it was a bit cheaper.”
“I’d like to come home and have my ashes scattered in Yorkshire, maybe on the top of Otley Chevin.”
More recently, at Great British Farm Fest in Warwickshire, Mr Craven spoke of “difficulties” with Countryfile at the start of the iconic British show.
READ MORE: Countryfile legend John Craven praised by TV star in honest admission
He said: “In the very early days of Countryfile, it was very difficult to get cameras onto farms and to get farmers to speak to us.
“It took a long time to win farmers over and let them open the gates of the farm and let us in.”
Farmers are now more open and willing to share their experiences, he said, but warned there remains significant questions over balancing food production with environmental goals.
“We need to up the amount of food that is produced in this country,” he said.
“The balance between environmental concern and the need to produce more food, that is the big issue that faces the country today.”
Oxford News
Clarkson, May, Hammond coming back to film new Grand Tour episode
According to The Sun, the hosts will join YouTubers Thomas Holland and James Engelsman as well as social media star Francis Bourgeois in series seven.
Having presented Top Gear together for over a decade, the famed trio departed the BBC show back in 2015, moving on to Prime Video’s The Grand Tour.
READ MORE: Clarkson’s Farm star shares emotional message after exit from show
The petrol enthusiasts are expected to help ensure the show’s reboot gets off to a smooth and welcoming start, according to co-creator and TV producer Andy Wilman.
Mr Wilman, who is also executive producer of Clarkson’s Farm, told The Sun that the guys will do cameos as they “pass that baton on” in the series which debuts on Friday, September 4.
The TV producer told 3Bs radio at the Buckingham Literary Festival: “We’ve got three guys coming soon with a new Grand Tour and we’ve got behind them.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson has to pay £95 for his own Amazon Prime account
“We’re really supporting them. Our guys are in the shows doing cameos, so we’re wishing them well because we do want to pass that baton on.”
This will be the first time in almost two years the Top Gear originals, who went their own ways professionally, will be seen together since September 2024.
That was when The Grand Tour: One For The Road was released on Prime Video, marking an end to over two decades of Mr Clarkson, Mr May and Mr Hammond working together.
Oxford News
Jeremy Clarkson has to pay for his own Amazon Prime account
The 52-year-old said that neither she nor her boyfriend receives a free subscription from Amazon, even though they front one of the streamer’s biggest British shows.
Ms Hogan made the admission in an interview with content creator Lucas Stewart on his YouTube channel.
Asked directly whether she was given a complimentary Amazon Prime or Prime Video account, the Irish former model and actor replied: “I share my son’s.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson and Christian Horner team up to raise over £1m
“We don’t get any goodies.”
She went on to explain that sharing subscriptions is simply how many younger viewers now choose to spend their money.
“Children nowadays are just like, ‘Yeah, I’ll just get this subscription,’ and that’s their way of spending money whereas we used to buy cigarettes and more alcohol,” she said.
“This is their spending money, so I share it with him.”
Clarkson’s Farm, which follows Mr Clarkson’s attempts to run his Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds, has been one of Prime Video’s breakout UK successes since it launched in 2021.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson’s girlfriend reveals his ‘true colours’ amid ‘misconceptions’
Ms Hogan has become a key part of the series, often seen running the Diddly Squat Farm Shop and appearing alongside Mr Clarkson and farmer Kaleb Cooper.
In the interview, she also reflected on how the attention from the show has changed her life, but the Independent report focuses on the unusual fact that one of Prime Video’s best‑known on‑screen personalities still relies on a family login.
Amazon Prime currently costs £8.99 a month in the UK, with membership including access to Prime Video, music, deliveries and other services.
The company has tightened its rules on account sharing in recent years, but Ms Hogan’s comments suggest that, inside the Clarkson household at least, the stars are still paying customers.
Oxford News
Jeremy Clarkson and Christian Horner team up to raise £1m
Mr Clarkson, who lives in Oxfordshire, hosted a fundraising auction for Sir Chris’s Tour de 4 charity at a clay pigeon shoot in Northamptonshire, organised by Mr Horner, who lives near the Oxfordshire border close to Banbury.
The event, held at the Marston Estate, raised £1 million in a single afternoon, with much of the final total coming from an extraordinary intervention by Mr Clarkson, as The Times reports.
Speaking on his Sporting Misadventures podcast, Sir Chris, 50, said: “Jeremy Clarkson did the auction at the Tour de 4 clay shoot that Christian Horner put on and we raised £1 million in an afternoon.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson’s girlfriend reveals his ‘true colours’ amid ‘misconceptions’
“We got to £850,000 with all the tickets and the tables and the auction, and they wanted to hit £1 million.”
At that point, Mr Clarkson turned to the guests who had flown in by helicopter and asked for £10,000 from each of them.
Sir Chris revealed: “Jeremy said, ‘Right, there are people here who have arrived in helicopters.
“‘Everyone here who has got a helicopter, I want ten grand.’ So he went around the room going, ‘Ten grand from you, ten grand from you,’ and he got £150,000 from people, and that’s what made it up to £1 million.
“It was astonishing. I don’t think anybody else would have got away with doing that, but he has that presence. It was a fantastic afternoon, really good fun.”
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Sir Chris, a six-time Olympic gold medallist, founded the Tour de 4 cycle challenge after being diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer.
He has since become a high-profile campaigner for better screening and awareness, using the event to “change the perception” of what it means to live with an advanced cancer diagnosis.
Mr Clarkson, known for Top Gear, The Grand Tour and Amazon’s Clarkson’s Farm, revealed earlier this year that he had undergone surgery for an aggressive form of prostate cancer after it was picked up in a routine medical.
He has since said he is in remission and urged men to get checked.
READ MORE: King Charles strips 10 people of honours in 2026 – check the list
Tour de 4 will return to Glasgow this September, starting and finishing at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
The inaugural ride attracted more than 5,000 participants and raised over £3 million for cancer charities, with this year’s event again supporting Macmillan Cancer Support, Breast Cancer Now, Cure Leukaemia, Prostate Cancer UK and Maggie’s.
Mr Hoy has said his diagnosis has changed the way he looks at each day. Speaking earlier this year, he reflected: “I never imagined that I’d be able to get to this point where I’m actually just living life and not just living life, but actually appreciating it more than ever.
“It’s just about appreciating the mundane fun of life, the mundane elements of life which can be wonderful.”
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