Famous British broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson received some small town B.C. hospitality this weekend after he was stuck in the city of Trail for several hours with nothing to do.
Clarkson, the longtime host of the popular BBC TV show Top Gear, arrived in Vancouver last week to film some segments for their upcoming season. There had been much speculation about where Clarkson would be shooting, but because of the immense popularity of the show, producers were tight-lipped about exact locations.
On Saturday, Clarkson told his 4.06 million followers on Twitter that he wouldn’t be out much while in Canada.
But just 18 hours later, Clarkson and his co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May found themselves with plenty of spare time.
People in Trail, a city of 7,500 in southern British Columbia, had plenty of suggestions on how to pass the hours.
Clarkson did attempt to visit the famous zinc smelter, one of the largest in the world, but it was not to be.
The suggestions continued to come.
Clarkson demurred.
Of course, other people suggested things to do in some of the nearby Kootenay towns.
One of the many people thrilled to get a photo with Clarkson was Alexander Robinson, a 17-year-old from nearby Grand Forks.
Robinson, who grew up watching Top Gear in England with his father, said that he managed to catch Clarkson and his co-hosts right before they left Trail.
“When I saw his tweet I said ‘dad, we’re driving to Trail right now,'” he said. “We stood exactly where he took one of the photos, and realized the only way we would probably find him is by going to the airport.”
“We got there, I ran through the airport probably in some places I wasn’t supposed to go, and suddenly they were all there having some pitchers,” said Robinson.
Robinson then saw them get on a plane, their Trail adventure at an end. He speculates that Top Gear was filming scenes in nearby mountains.
“It’s really really snowing up in the mountains, but it’s not extraordinarily windy. It’s great views and you don’t have to slow down as much. It’s great for an episode of Top Gear.”
He’s still pinching himself over the experience.
“I guess being the overly positive person I am, I thought I could actually meet them, but I’m amazed we were able to right before they got on the plane,” he said. “My dad’s going to be framing the picture.”