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
Black Sheep (Hill novel) Black Sheep (Hill novel) Black Sheep, is a novella by English author Susan Hill, published in 2013 by Chatto & Windus. The story is set in a bleak coal-mining village and centres around brother and sister Ted and Rose Howker. It follows their growth from childhood into adulthood and their attempts to break free from the drudgery of their existence. Ted through heading out of the valley to work on a sheep-farm, and Rose through marriage to the pit-manager's son. But neither is able to truly escape and their choices lead to tragedy... In an interview with "The Guardian" Hill