From growing his own vegetables to beekeeping, and even taking care of chickens, David Beckham has swapped the football pitch for a different kind of green space.
The sportsman, 49, is living ‘The Good Life’ in the £6million Cotswolds farmhouse he shares with his wife Victoria.
Over the years, and more frequently in recent times, he has shared snippets of what he gets up to at his rural home with his family, following his retirement from football more than a decade ago.
David’s relaxing new way of life, which includes getting excited at his chickens laying ‘lovely’ eggs and showing his followers how to plant a rose shrub, bears hilarious similarities to the 70s sitcom The Good Life.
The light-hearted comedy – which starred the late Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal and Penelope Keith – followed disillusioned designer Tom Good who, with the help of his wife Barbara, abandoned a corporate lifestyle.
The Good Life! From growing his own vegetables to beekeeping, and even taking care of chickens, David Beckham has swapped the football pitch for a different kind of green space
Green-fingered: David’s relaxing new way of life, which includes getting excited at his chickens laying ‘lovely’ eggs and showing his followers how to plant a rose shrub, bears hilarious similarities to the 70s sitcom The Good Life (Felicity Kendall and Richard Briers pictured above in the show)
The couple turned their suburban home and garden in Surbiton, Surrey, into a smallholding with livestock and vegetables – sound familiar?
Tom and Barbara were played by Richard and Felicity, with Penelope and Paul as their snooty neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter.
Created by writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, the BBC show ran for four seasons, between 1975 and 1978, and made household names of Richard, Felicity, Penelope and Paul Eddington.
Now, it seems the retired footballer has taken inspiration from the show and is stepping further away from the limelight and corporate life to take on a simpler way of living.
In 2016, the family bought a £12 million converted barn in the Cotswolds, which has become a hub for the sports icon’s new projects.
New projects: Over the years, and more frequnetly in recent times, he has shared snippets of what he gets up to at his rural home with his family, following his retirement from football more than a decade ago
A new passion for beekeeping
David shocked and delighted fans during lockdown when he revealed his newfound passion for beekeeping.
The ex-footballer fell in love with the hobby during the pandemic and even installed a hive in his garden – often sharing insights into the task with his 87.9 million Instagram followers.
This includes snaps of himself collecting honey from a hive in his garden and even getting his children involved.
In July 2020, Victoria gave fans an insight into family life as she filmed her husband getting to work building bee hives.
The father-of-four was in the zone as he put the hives together in the garden, with Victoria explaining: ‘David decided to start building bee hives. Is that your new project darling?’
David replied: ‘It is. You’ll be very happy when we’ve got our own honey.’
In 2022, he wrote: ‘What a buzzzz, who would’ve thought honey harvesting would become my favourite thing to do. Happy #WorldHoneyBeeDay.’
The star shared a snap of him doing his favourite ‘past time,’ dressed head-to-toe in protective gear.
In another post from 2023, he penned: ‘Be kind and they will be calm. The Sweet Life,’ alongside an image of him tending to his bees.
Last year, he even gifted King Charles a jar of his homemade honey, and last week won official recognition from the King by becoming an ambassador for his charity.
And beekeeping was only the beginning – David has since ventured into the world of keeping chickens, fishing, growing vegetables, and a host of other outdoorsy pursuits.
Country life: The sports star fell in love with beekeeping after installing a hive in his garden during lockdown
Busy bee: In another post from 2023, he penned: ‘Be kind and they will be calm. The Sweet Life’
Country living: David Beckham’s post-retirement ‘Good Life’ has been likened to the British 70s sitcom
Pictured: David and Victoria Beckham’s lavish £6.15million Cotswold estate in Oxfordshire
Keeping chickens
His flock of fowl have become recurring characters on the former sports star’s social media, after installing a chicken and turkey coop in May.
In one video he shared to update fans on the new additions, the retired footballer was trailed by a small flock of hens and game-birds while showing off some of the neatly plotted land surrounding the homestead.
David was gifted the birds as a Christmas present by his wife and has since set up a hen pen for the new animals on their sprawling estate.
He collected his first egg from the chickens in March, after travelling to their Cotswolds home to check in on his flock.
He later took to Instagram on to share the moment he found his first egg after spending hours researching on how best to encourage his hens.
‘I’ve come to check if there’s any eggs because I haven’t actually been here to see and witness the first egg so I’m back now and let’s have a look,’ he told followers.
‘They were laying on top, I did a little research and changed a few things up so guess what? This is the first time that they’ve laid in there which is very exciting.’
David brushed up on his hen-keeping skills after his wife Victoria gifted him his own flock
Adorable! David’s flock of fowl have become recurring characters on the former sports star’s social media, after installing a chicken and turkey coop in May
Exciting: He collected his first egg from the chickens in March, after travelling to their Cotswolds home to check in on his flock
Farmer David: The star’s flock of domestic fowl were seen trailing him out of their coop
Eggxellent: ‘And guess what they laid a lovely blue egg,’ he wrote in one post
In one episode of The Good Life, Tom and Barbara secure a flock of chickens
Back in 2021, the Beckhams were also given the green light to build a ‘barn for bats and birds’
Getting busy in the kitchen and growing vegetables
Other snaps taken at his Cotswolds farmhouse show David making a Sunday dinner with his mother and daughter Harper, and cooking up a storm in the kitchen – making a leek pie for his family.
David also shared a snap of the homemade mulled wine he was making at Christmas time.
As well as upping his culinary skills, the England legend tends to a vegetable plot at his home – something he involves his children in.
Captioning a post in November 2023, he quipped: ‘And so the organic farming begins with my little helper.’
He beamed as Harper, 12 at the time, embraced him after tending to a vegetable plot outside the rural bolthole.
Explaining the next steps on their new green project, the star wrote ‘Quick check on my Bee’s then over to the,’ as he added a slew of vegetable emojis, from broccoli to garlic to carrots – suggesting they have big plans for their organic plantation.
Cooking up a storm: Other snaps taken at his Cotswolds farmhouse show David making a Sunday dinner with his mother and daughter Harper, and later a leek pie for his family
David also shared a snap of the homemade mulled wine he was making at Christmas time
Bonding: Captioning a post in November 2023, he quipped: ”And so the organic farming begins with my little helper’
The Good Life, which starred the late Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal and Penelope Keith, followed disillusioned designer Tom Good who, with the help of his wife Barbara, abandoned a corporate lifestyle
Helping wildlife and planting flowers
Continuing their relationship with the wildlife aorund them, in 2021 the Beckhams were given the green light to build a ‘barn for bats and birds.’
West Oxfordshire District Council granted David and Vicroria the approval they needed to move forward with their re-landscaping plans in the gardens of their £6.15million Grade II-listed country mansion.
They promised to construct ‘a new native hedgerow planted to link the hedgerows together to create a wildlife corridor’ and the new building will provide ‘new roosting and nesting opportunities for bats and birds.’
On Monday, David updated his followers on his journey into the world of gardening, while treating himself to a can of Stella.
The videos racked up over one million likes, as people hailed the star the ‘gardening influencer we never knew we needed’ and shared their desire for him to get his own TV show.
On Saturday, David shared a video of him planting a Queen of Sweden rose shrub, as his wife Victoria, 50, gave him words of encouragement.
The star sportsman’s fans were quick to give him pointers on where he was going wrong, prompting him to share another video the next day planting a second rose shrub – and thanking supporters for their tips.
A big catch: Fishing is another outdoorsy hobby that David has taken on post-retirement
Beaming: David Beckham treated himself to a can of Stella while planting roses on Instagram on Sunday – as fans begged the BBC to give him his own gardening show
The videos racked up over one million likes, as people hailed the star the ‘gardening influencer we never knew we needed’ and shared their desire for him to get his own TV show
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