On the final day of operation, an unofficial celebration to mark the years of dedicated work of the Wards staff was held. The much respected operations manager, and former head brewer Paul Simpson (also an RNR officer) was parodied by one of the brewing operatives who wore a homemade sailor suit. Also on this last day, several 'generations' of the brewery's excise officers, including Lorraine Baker and David Bates, bought everyone else a beer by installing a barrel in the brewer tap, The Devonshire, across the road from the brewery. The cremated remains of the last brewery cat, once to be found in the Sample/Training Room, were spirited away and now rest in the house of one of the former excise officers.