Welsh vet Dilwyn Evans on life at Diddly Squat

Clarkson’s Farm vet Dilwyn Evans has said that Jeremy Clarkson has “learned a lot” through the course of the series.

“He didn’t know a lot at the beginning but now he knows how animals behave. He looks more like a farmer during the course of the programme,” he said.

Clarkson’s Farm debuted on Prime Video in June 2021, following the former Top Gear presenter’s attempt to run Diddly Squat – a 1,000-acre farm near Chipping Norton.

Dilwyn, 62, from Llanddewi Brefi, Ceredigion, was recommended to Clarkson by his neighbour and has helped look after the farm’s animals since the show launched.

“Sometimes you think he’s joking but his questions are completely genuine – you have to tell him what’s what and that’s how he learns,” he told Bore Sul on BBC Radio Cymru.

Dilwyn is now retired and devotes much of his time to helping Jeremy get to grips with Diddly Squat.

“Jeremy has learned a lot during the programme. The work is on a different scale to being a vet but the phone may go off at any time asking for help,” he said.

“I believe I have been very lucky – I was in the right place at the right time.”

Dilwyn said Clarkson’s Farm had “conveyed how difficult farming is”.

“Farmers get a lot of stick, with some believing that the life of a farmer is all about driving four-wheel drives, going shooting every other day and fox hunting,” he added.

“But it’s not like that. Farming is hard – you have to rely on the weather, that the animals are going to be fine and market prices.

“You can grow exactly the same product as last year but this year the price can be considerably lower.

“Clarkson’s Farm shows that things don’t always go to plan – it’s not Jeremy Clarkson’s fault but that’s the way it goes and one can be unlucky.”

Although Dilwyn eventually trained as a vet, farming has long been a part of his life – he grew up as one of four children on a 67-acre farm.

“In the early days we only had 15 milking cows and one or two sows.

“Things were tight. My parents never had a holiday and we only used to go away for a day trip – to the Royal Welsh, for example. We milked the cows before and after our trip.

“There wasn’t enough money for us all to go on a school trip – we took turns.”

Dilwyn studied veterinary medicine at Edinburgh and his inspiration came from another popular TV programme.

“Seeing All Creatures Great and Small as a child encouraged me to be a vet and I saw myself as a James Herriot,” he said.

“I also liked school work and mum, in particular, pushed us a lot to do school work.

“‘Nobody will be able to take your academic achievements away from you’, she said but it was difficult to get a place to be a vet and you had to get three As.

“All four of us left home – it was almost a shame that no-one took over the farm.”