Stars Guy Ritchie and Martin Clunes are at odds over film director’s plans to expand the home brewery on his 1,000-acre estate – which could stop riders using a popular bridleway
- Guy Ritchie wants to expand storage space at his microbrewery in rural Wiltshire
- Plans were rejected by British Horse Society (BHS), run by actor Martin Clunes
- The BHS asked Wiltshire Council to ensure riding path ‘will not be obstructed’
- Council is expected to issue its decision over the proposal during the summer
Stars Guy Ritchie and Martin Clunes are at odds over the film director’s plans to expand the home brewery on his 1,000-acre estate – which could stop horse riders from using a popular bridleway.
Ritchie told planning bosses the 20-barrel cask brewery, based in rural Wiltshire, needs more storage space, according to The Sun.
But the plans have been rejected by the British Horse Society (BHS), run by Doc Martin’s leading star, Clunes, due to concerns the expansion could block a riding pathway.
Guy Ritchie, pictured left, is engaged in a dispute with actor Martin Clunes, right, pictured for ITV’s Arthur and George, over expanding Gritchie Brewing Company in Wiltshire
A map showing the proposals for an expansion, which the BHS fear would block a riding pathway, filing an objection to Wiltshire Council, with a decision to be given in the summer
The BHS asked to ensure the ‘byway will not be obstructed in any way’ in a rejection filed to Wiltshire Council.
Spokeswoman Myra Bennett claimed: ‘If he wants to close it, there would be a major legal battle — and I do not think he would succeed.’
The council is said to be issuing its decision in the summer.
Gritchie Brewing Company was built from a dilapidated barn in just over 12 months and brews ‘beer in the traditional form’.
The brewery is self-sufficient, as it also grows its own barley and uses water collected on the farm.
On the company’s website, it explains: ‘Gritchie Brewing Company has its own borehole and all the beer we make is made exclusively with water from an aquifer on the farm.
Gritchie Brewing Company (pictured). The microbrewery was built from a dilapidated barn in just over 12 months and brews ‘beer in the traditional form’
‘We also grow our own Maris Otter barley, the barley is then floor malted locally – the old traditional method – and then used as the base of our beer.’
The King Arthur director was handed the historic Ashcombe House, as part of a near £50 million divorce settlement with Madonna in 2008.
According to the brewery website, he’s now changed the name to Ashgrove Farm.
Ashcombe House was originally built in 1686, although the house situated there now is from the mid-eighteenth century.