Change is Coming

04 Nov Change is Coming

I read the poster in my head with Grata’s monotone intonation. “Change is coming, whether you like it or not.” It is posted on a hoarding in Shoreditch, where another new building will no doubt spring up. Wave upon wave of change has chased investment down this old Roman highway. Nineteen years ago I used to bring our Ford Escort to a backstreet garage here to be serviced at Holywell Motors. I discovered there used to be a Priory here on the site of a sacred well. It was renowned from 1150, then “much decayed and spoiled” in John Stow’s London survey 1525-1603. There have been countless changes in the centuries since Holywell Priory was dissolved; but Greta’s warning points to a far greater transformation than the city skyline. “Change is coming, whether you like it or not.”