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
Kimberley Brewery which has caused rage in the town as it means a lot to the citizens. The site is currently being developed into housing, the distribution center (circa 1980s), that is located to the rear of the courtyard has been demolished along with a red brick loading bay. the houses will be moved into in 2018. The grain tanks to the side of the brewery have also been taken down and all concrete surfaces or roads to the rear of the site have been demolished. The black bridge as seen on the second photo down will remain along with the tower,