THE last dray cart travelling from a Skipton-based brewery will have been horse drawn - but almost 100 years on a £250,000 venture is about to resurrect the town's brewing industry.

Skipton Brewery, with its trade name Copper Dragon, is being launched by Steve Taylor and Ruth Bennett from 5,000 square feet premises on the Snaygill Industrial Estate.

Skipton has not had a brewery since Christopher Scott's opened in 1816 on Brewery Lane. In 1904 it was sold to Bentley's of Yorkshire which closed it down.

Copper Dragon is all about creating local flavours in quality cask conditioned real ales through a steam-powered brewhouse, said director Mr Taylor.

He said that many larger breweries lost their flavours and individuality because of financial constraints and mass production.

"We are trying to bring back flavours and qualities from the bygone age," he said.

Head brewer Gordon Wilkinson has been given a free hand to buy the best English malts and hops without worrying about cost in order to give the ale a consistently full flavour.

Special ales for times like Christmas and Easter will also give the brewers a chance to experiment with ingredients and flavours.

The idea for Copper Dragon was born from Mr Taylor's 20 years' experience in craft brewing. "I wanted to take it further so I learnt about the chemistry of brewing. About five years ago I started thinking about opening my own brewery," he explained.

Following a two-year feasibility study Mr Taylor came to the realisation that his dream was possible.

Mr Taylor with partner Miss Bennett visited several areas within Lancashire and Yorkshire and settled on Skipton. The town has an almost perfect soft water supply for brewing and has good transport links.

Both thought that people in the market town and the surrounding small villages would appreciate and respect the quality ales they hoped to produce.

They are both giving up their homes and jobs in the Burnley area to move to Skipton so they can devote all their time to the new venture.

The 10-barrel length brewery will be producing 200 casks per week and is starting with three ales - a best bitter of 3.8% APR, a pale ale of 4.4% and a dark ale of 3.7%.

Within 24 months of its opening it is hoped to expand the brewery to a 30-barrel length and create several jobs for local people.

One of the brewery's unique features will be to put the ales' ingredients on the pump heads so customers can see what they are drinking.

The brewery will be located in part of the warehouse owned by Whitaker's Chocolatiers. Local tradesmen have been employed to get the interior ready for the delivery of the brewing plant from Germany at the end of January.

When it first opens for business towards the end of February, Mr Taylor and Miss Bennett will be hoping to secure trade within a 10-mile radius of Skipton, moving up eventually to a 15-mile radius.

"It is important that Skipton people get to try the beer first," said Mr Taylor. "We don't want to just flood the market. We want to secure the quality end of it."

The brewery will be open to the public who can walk around to see the brewing process and small casks of ale will be on direct sale to the public.