THE news that Theakstons Brewery at Masham is to once more be proudly independent brings to mind the mouth-watering prospect of the Theakston brothers going head to head with Theakston in the shape of the other brother Paul and his Black Sheep brewery next door.

The original Theakstons brands have laboured unhappily under the Scottish and Newcastle management which had far bigger fish to fry (John Smith's, Fosters etc) and for many lovers of Old Peculier, it was the final nail in the coffin once it emerged that the Masham ales were being produced in Newcastle.

Meanwhile, the Black Sheep brand under the careful stewardship of Paul Theakston has blossomed, finding its way to the heart of real ale aficionados and supermarket managers alike.

Now with the Theakston brand liberated and under family control again, it will be interesting to see how the brands compete. Theakstons has some ground to make up.

Summer's over

Did you realise that summer is officially over, at least for Boots in Darlington?

This week, while the temperature soared towards the mid-seventies again, Spectator's wife called in to the Northgate branch to pick up some sun tan creams for a late holiday overseas.

Sadly, they were nowhere to be seen. A passing assistant was asked where the store's stock had gone. She replied that it had been removed from display to make way for Christmas goods. It took 10 minutes to retrieve some from the depths of the storeroom. It was no doubt buried under the chocolate Santas.

Nonsense names

After bringing you the news last week that Darlington Primary Care Trust employs a "clinical governance manager" Spectator learns that the trust also has on its books a "mental health national service framework facilitator".

We are sure these titles are not devised specifically to obscure the valuable work the postholders do, but that is the effect.

It also tends to encourage the view that the extra Government money being pumped in to the NHS is being spent on layers of management.

Spectator would be pleased to hear of any other nonsense job titles, in the NHS, or elsewhere.