A NORTH Yorkshire brewery is seeking an apprentice cooper.

Masham-based T&R Theakston, still makes traditional oak casks to store and transport its ales, and wants to recruit an apprentice to learn the skilled trade of cask-making.

The new recruit will be the only apprentice brewery cooper in the country, and will undergo three to four years training to produce, re-make and repair the family-owned brewery’s wooden casks.

The trainee will learn the craft from Jonathan Manby – who joined Theakston’s as an apprentice himself in 1995 – and is the country’s last remaining brewery-employed craft cooper.

Mr Manby makes hundreds of oak casks each year for licensees that want their ales served in oak casks.

He also demonstrates his skills in the brewery’s cooperage – which is part of Theakston’s visitor centre tour, and at fairs, festivals and shows all over the country.

Simon Theakston, company director, said: “We are very proud to be one of the last breweries in the country to supply our ale in wooden casks and also to be preserving an ancient and skilled art.

“We have used wooden casks since being founded by my great, great grandfather 187 years ago.

“The last time we advertised for this position was in 1995, and Jonathan Manby was the successful applicant.

“Watching Jonathan at work is fascinating and he uses the same methods and tools to create casks that coopers have used for hundreds of years.

“The growing popularity of our cask ales means that Jonathan now requires another pair of hands to help him in his important job.

“However, coopering is a skill that cannot be learned overnight and the training period can take up to four years.”

If interested in applying, and for more information, write to Jonathan Manby, Cooper, T&R Theakston Ltd, The Brewery, Masham, Ripon, HG4 4YD.