THE seasons they are a-changing and the shopping scene in Easton is a-changing along with them.

Halloween is behind us for another year and tonight Guy Fawkes will be dispatched in traditional fashion, so now we are on the lead-up to Christmas as far as the commercial side is concerned, although elsewhere in bigger towns and on the internet it is well underway.

While it is sad to see that shops close all over the place, and Portland is no exception, it is good to see that other shops are taking their place and we all certainly wish them well, but then that will be up to the support we give them within the local community.

An encouragement to local people, visitors and to all who will be coming along to the Easton Promise on the night of Friday, December 13, there are a few new businesses open to catch the eye and hopefully custom.

Easton Shopping Centre has come alive again with the addition of a fresh fruit and vegetable shop, a toy shop and a recycled furniture store run in conjunction with the Save The Children charity shop which has been long established in the centre.

In Easton Street we now have a carpet shop, Portland Pride, and it appears that a beautician will soon be occupying premises in Easton Square.

When you look around this hub of the island, Easton is, in relative terms, quite a metropolis and we are lucky to have all of the essentials right on our doorstep.

So we have a changing face of Easton but we still have four faces which never change – or do they?

I am referring to the faces of the clock in Easton Gardens which we haven’t seen for a long time as the growth of the surrounding trees has hidden them.

Easton is marching on but as we can’t see the faces, for all we know time might be standing still for this silent icon.