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Concerns had been circulating for some time, but the sheer extent of the redundancies announced at Barry, Ostlere and Shepherd left everyone reeling.

But when the time came to march in protest just weeks later, just a few dozen people turned out.

The company was one of the foundations of the town’s industry with a workforce of around 1000.

Workers from Kirkcaldy linoleum factory Barry, Ostlere & Shepherd march through town after 750 jobs were lost in cuts. They carried a coffin made of linoleum to signify the company's demise

It had five factories at Pathhead, and more close to the railway station - an indication of how important linoleum was to the Lang Toun’s economy.

But Barry Ostlere planned to centralise in Staines, Middlesex. August 1962 saw the first rumours of redundancies accepted as “a cheerless fact” according to a report in the Fife Free Press.

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What followed, however, left the workforce in despair.

Barry, Ostlere & Shepherd's linoleum factory, the Walton Works, in Kirkcaldy closed in 1963 as the company moved south to Middlesex

Early April 1963 saw the company announce between 400 and 500 workers would be paid off come the Trades Fortnight in July - with 150 more to follow in August as it slashed its local operations to the bone.

Barry Ostlere was part of the town’s fabric.

It was incorporated in 1860 after a merger of John Barry, Ostlere & Co, Kirkcaldy, and the partnership of Shepherd and Beveridge,.

John Barry had been formed in 1880 to take over the Patent Floorcloth Co and had absorbed several other small firms.Shepherd & Beveridge set up in 1864 and owned the Kirkcaldy Linoleum Company.

Devastating job losses at linoleum manufacturer Barry Ostlere & Shepherd, Kirkcaldy, reported in the Fife Free Press, April 1963

Wholescale closure of the Pathhead factories meant work would be concentrated only on the National Works in Bennochy Road, and the firm’s papermill in Massereene Road.

That sparked a furious reaction.

Noted the Press: “The advancing shadow of redundancy will fall darkly on many Kirkcaldy homes, and the plight of the employees in a hitherto stable industry, in which Barry’s has been a giant for so long, cannot fail to arouse sympathy in the community.”Directors of Kirkcaldy Chamber of Commerce said the prospect of no new work coming to town was “most acute” and said steps must be taken to establish a Development Authority with full powers.

Barry, Ostlere & Shepherd's linoleum factory at Caledonia, Kirkcaldy, which shut in 1963

Kirkcaldy Town Council met with the Scottish Controller of the Board of Trade in Edinburgh, while Harry Gourlay MP led a delegation to St Andrew’s House for top level talks with the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Edward Barran, chairman of Barry Ostlere visited Kirkcaldy to speak to both sides, but nothing changed.

One union official said after two and half hours of talks: “It looks pretty grim for Kirkcaldy now.”

Over 400 workers turned out for a three-hour meeting with Kirkcaldy Trades Council, and put together plans for a major demonstration through the town.

By the end of April it was confirmed the total job losses would be 750 - a devastating blow to Expectations that the demo would be one of the biggest ever seen in the town proved to be “lamentable unfulfilled.”

It was estimated that fully 500 people would take part, but just 60 turned up to march behind the Michael Colliery Pipe Band after the famous Barry Ostlere and Shepherd Brass Band turned down an invite to lead it.

A coffin made of linoleum with the branding ‘Barry’s was carried by four pallbearers to symbolise the factories’ passing.

The 1963 job losses which devastated Kirkcaldy linoleum’s industry