It is difficult to talk about Royal Leamington Spa without acknowledging the town’s historic baths. Following the rediscovery of saline springs in the late 18th century, the small Warwickshire village grew into a popular leisure resort where wealthy visitors would take to the waters for their therapeutic benefits.
As the spa industry continued to thrive, plans for a new town north of the river were devised, leading to the construction of some fine examples of Regency architecture.
Today, the town is a hotspot for video game giants. Codemasters, Sega and Full Fat all have offices in an area known as ‘Silicon Spa’.
‘The 19th century bathhouse and beautiful flowerbeds of Jephson Gardens make Leamington a lovely place to spend the day,’ says Lena Thakor, Specsavers retail director.
The Leamington branch is located along the Parade and has been open for three decades. Thakor says the experience within her team is vast: ‘Our longest serving team member has been with us for an amazing 25 years. He among others is very well known within the community.’
Despite seeing a ‘large volume of patients’, the Specsavers director believes her staff demonstrate ‘a genuine care’ which makes each patient feel valued. ‘We truly have an amazing team spirit and treat each customer as a friend to the store,’ Thakor says.
Rod Jenkins, one of the directors at Charnley’s Opticians, says Leamington Spa is great place to work because of its ‘village atmosphere’. Jenkins has been practicing in Leamington for 30 years, but acknowledges Charnley’s has been around for a lot longer.
‘The practice is around 100 years old. The paperwork we have says it was here in 1921, but we think it was here before then. We have a lot of historical stuff, like old frames and that sort of thing,’ he says.
Jenkins has no ‘typical patients’. However, the DO says he has been pleased to see an increase in the number of younger people visiting the practice. ‘Millennials are coming in which is great because its generated from the families who have always visited us. But, we are also getting a lot of students from Warwick University,’ he says.
Looking ahead to the future, Jenkins and his co-director want to expand the practice, he says: ‘We are currently going through the plans to put in a new consulting room. We have two which run six days a week and we are getting the plans to put a third room in, hopefully by the end of the year.’
Who’s in town
Total: 7
Independents: 2
Multiples: 5
Average costs
The price of an eye exam in Leamington Spa ranged from £19 to £25, producing an average cost of £23.
Population
Royal Leamington Spa population: 57,309
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Optical Committee has secured a contract for South Warwickshire CCG in Glaucoma Repeat Readings.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Royal Leamington Spa is £322,070 (Zoopla) compared with a UK average of £223,257 (Land Registry, 2017)
- Leamington has an average salary of £25,020 compared with a UK average of £27,271 (PayScale, 2018)
- In 2015, there were 2,840 people living with diabetic retinopathy in Warwick (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool)
- There were an estimated 1,390 people living with late stage age-related macular degeneration in 2016 (RNIB)
- It is estimated that, by 2025, there will be 1,860 people living with cataract in Warwick (RNIB)
Fact file
Prince Louis Napoleon, who would become Emperor Napoleon III, once lived at Number 6, Clarendon Square, Leamington Spa. The nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte was forced into exile after his uncle’s enforced abdication.
Elephants once bathed in the River Leam. According to local legend, elephant trainer Sam Lockhart used a narrow slipway to transport his animals down to the river for a scrub. The track is still visible from Mill Road footbridge.
Leamington Spa is only one of three towns in the UK which holds a ‘Royal’ prefix. Queen Victoria awarded the town royal status in 1838 after staying at the Regent Hotel in 1830. Tunbridge Wells and Wootton Basset also have ‘Royal’ titles.
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