Look Local: Northampton's got sole

For a century, Sheinman Opticians, established by optometrist and instrument designer A E Turville in 1915, has practised in Northampton, where it occupies a building named after its founder.

Dispensing optician Martyn Street says that 43% of the practice’s patients are in the 60-plus age bracket who, he says, because of the town’s engineering background, ‘expect a well-made product’. The connection with engineering was particularly strong in the postwar years when a major bearings factory was located near the town employing up to 4,000 people. The plant, run by Timken, closed in 2002, but making things runs deep: the locale remains a globally important shoemaking centre.