Chris Bennett: Overdrawn at the memory bank

Preparations for this year’s Awards led me to the Optician archive this week which proved to be an interesting experience.

Being surrounded by 125 years of weekly journals is quite a humbling experience. It’s not just the physical amount of work that has gone into producing a 40 or 50 page magazine week in week out for over a century but also the sense of history.

Optician was instrumental in bringing the structures for the optical profession into being by acting as a conduit for the profession and the industry, it was consulted on the optical needs of the nation and has charted all manner of change from the formation of the NHS through to deregulation of the market.