The Woodyard Brewery, of Castle Street, Long Acre, situated midway between the City and the West End of London, is supposed to have taken its name from a timber yard or cooperage on its original site.
On his death in 1818 the brewery passed to his son, Harvey Combe, and his brother-in-law, Joseph Delafield, by whom the premises were further enlarged.
In April, the following single line article appeared in The Times: "The carpenters and bricklayers belonging to the Trades Unions have, in consequence of Messrs. Combe and Delafield's refusal to employ any person connected with Trade Unions, resolved to drink no more of their beer" (The Times, 5 Apr 1834).
In return for these profitable contracts, the brothers prohibited the consumption of any beer in their workshops, other than that brewed by Combe Delafield.
The biggest losers were possibly Combe Delafield who, despite being innocent victims of the dispute, suffered heavy losses through reduced beer sales.
According to "The Red Barrel: a History of Watney Mann", by Hurford Janes (1963) "at the Wood Yard Brewery Combe, Delafield & Co, quickly adjusted their methods to meet the new demand, brewing ales similar in colour and flavour to those of Burton ale which had become the rage".