Here come the clichés: How is it October 31st and not mid-April? Where did the last 10 months go? Why are there less than eight weeks until Christmas?

As a child, I remember so clearly moaning about being bored through the long summer holidays, and wishing time would pass faster - and my mum and granny would tell me how time goes faster the older you get. In that case, I must be about 84 now...

In the new issue of ShoreLines we go to the very heart of our community, and ask how our village centres can survive and thrive in a world of corporate malls and online shopping.

We meet an amazing chap, for whom a marathon is just a gentle jog! There's some great advice from Kirsten Beaumont at East Coast Bays Veterinary Clinic about how to keep your pets happy during fireworks season, and a heartwarming story of friendship that took two pals more than 6,000 miles across the USA.

ShoreLines' October/November issue is available to read online.