Black Sheep Brewery Theakston left in 1988, and after a hiatus of more than a year purchased the North Yorkshire Malt Roasting Company, originally part of the former Lightfoot's brewery site, from an animal feed company, in order to start a new brewery in Masham. Theakston wanted to use the Lightfoot name to bring back an old brewing tradition, but Scottish and Newcastle had already trademarked the name. The association of Masham with sheep led Theakston to come up with the name "Sheep Brewery" which rapidly became "Black Sheep" at his wife's suggestion. The first and original Black Sheep Best Bitter was sold
Black Sheep (anarcho-folk band) sleevenotes of the albums illustrated Black Sheep’s increasingly collective approach – Fiegel also served as one of the group’s photographers, while the musically absent Hebbs had contributed a painting. Other contributors to Black Sheep have included Cope’s wife Dorian Cope, performing under the pseudonym of "Mother of the Revolution" (Dorian Cope's radical blog "On This Deity" is also a Black Sheep project). The collective approach has also allowed for an increasing number of releases foregrounding individual group members and associates. Christophe F. stepped to the fore on 2009’s "Heathen Frontiers in Sound" which he predominantly wrote while backed by the