Theakston Brewery company acquired and closed down the Lightfoot Brewery, also in Masham. Theakston's expanded into Cumbria in 1974 buying the Carlisle State Management Brewery. The brewery had been owned and operated by the government since 1916. However, the site was a financial drain on Theakston's and led to the company being taken over in 1984 by Blackburn based brewer, Matthew Brown plc. Matthew Brown was itself taken over by Scottish & Newcastle in 1987. Paul Theakston (Managing Director since 1968) left Theakston's in 1988, and in 1992 established the Black Sheep Brewery in the old Lightfoot Brewery premises - located adjacent
Timothy Taylor Brewery "New Inn" in Cononley, the "Royal Oak" in Keighley, the "Royal Oak" in Ripon, the "Town Hall Tavern" in central Leeds, the "White Horse" in Thornton, the "White Swan" in Fence and the "Woolly Sheep" in Skipton. All of these pubs are run by tenants, except for the "Lord Rodney" in Keighley and the "Woolly Sheep" in Skipton, which are run by Timothy Taylor's itself. In 2015, Timothy Taylor's bought "The Devonshire Hotel" in Grassington and it underwent a complete refurbishment, reopening in December 2015. Timothy Taylor Brewery Timothy Taylor's is a family-owned regional brewery founded in 1858 by Timothy