In the Fife Herald of 20 June 1872, the move away from hand loom weaving is reflected, despite steady trade. It reports that the hand-loom branch of the weaving trade is "brisk here at present", particularly in terms of wide sheetings. It continues "of late hands have not been obtainable in numbers to complete work for the manufacturers who forward chains and wefts here to be made into cloth. Many old hands have left the loom, and nobody now learns the "ancient art", which is rapidly fading away."
Again in 1874, the feeling is of a disappearing art. Under the heading "The Loom", the 17 September Fife Herald speaks of a brisk level of business for the remaining weavers in Lundin Mill, yet at low wages. It states:
"Supplied by webs here as we are through agents, work at the hand-loom trade is rife, but weavers have dwindled down in numbers greatly of late, and the "sough o' the shuttle" is now rarely heard. Wide sheetings are being woven by old hands, but wages are low."
On 23 February 1877, the Courier stated that "handloom weaving is at present less active here than it was some time ago, and some kinds of webs are scarce, while wages are miserably low."
And so, a long-standing industry, which had provided employment (albeit erratically) for generations died out. Lundin Mill in particular was on the brink of radical change with the upsurge in pleasure-seeking visitors attracted by the golf and sea-bathing. It must have been quite a culture shock to the older residents of the village when development took off around the turn of the century!