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
The Black Sheep of Whitehall Days" (1933). This was the first film of three where Basil Dearden and Will Hay shared the directional credit, the other two being "The Goose Steps Out " (1942) and "My Learned Friend" (1943). Hays never directed again after that. Real broadcaster Leslie Mitchell is in the film driven to a nervous breakdown while interviewing Hay's character. Mitchell was the first commentator for the new BBC Television Service when it began transmissions on 2 November 1936. He also provided the commentary for "Movietone News". The Black Sheep of Whitehall The Black Sheep of Whitehall is a 1942 British black-and-white comedy