Carlisle in Cumbria lies at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril, 10 miles south of the Scottish border and is located just a mile south of Hadrian’s Wall.
According to a survey of around 25,000 people by the property website Rightmove, the residents of Carlisle are the ‘happiest at home’ in the UK.
Tim Harper, optometrist and co-owner of K France Opticians with fellow optometrist Martin Golden, describes the city as ‘small and brilliant’ with ‘great history’ and beautiful surrounding countryside.
K France Opticians is located in a grade II listed building in the Chatsworth and Portland Squares Conservation area, which Harper says ‘helps to define the practice’ and ‘set it apart from the high street competition’. Due to the independent’s location and proximity to other cities, Golden has supported the Hospital Eye Service with a Cosmetic and Therapeutic Contact Lenses clinic for 29 years. The practice also provides OCT, Corneal Topography and Ortho K lenses. Frames brands include Maui Jim and Silhouette and it has been a Zeiss and Varilux lens specialist for many years.
Harper, Golden and their team marked the practice’s 50th anniversary last year with afternoon tea and a 1966 quiz with their long-standing customers.
Dolores Marshall, owner of Dolores Marshall Opticians in the city centre, says: ‘Although we are in a central location, we are still a community practice and we pride ourselves on knowing our patients as individuals. We see a mix of all ages, a lot of families and generations of families from babies to grandparents.’ Marshall describes Carlisle as more of a ‘friendly town’ than a big city. ‘We meet a lot of our patients out and about and we support local community events,’ she says. The practice, comprising one optometrist, two dispensing opticians and two receptionists, supplies brands such as Ray Ban, Oakley, Silhouette, as well as specialist sport and occupational frames.
Family-run independent D&D McWilliams, located in the Carlisle suburb of Stanwix, also supports the local community by running fun days and raffles and it currently backs Guide Dogs for the Blind. Director and dispensing optician Beth McWilliams describes the locals as friendly and welcoming, many of which come from the surrounding farming community. Multifocal contact lenses are in high demand at the practice, which McWilliams attributes to customers moving across from the multiples as they take ‘more chair time to fit’. Launched 15 years ago, the practice has recently doubled in size to meet demand. ‘We offer a very detailed eye test and a wide selection of frames from Ray-Ban to Ted Baker and people come to us for that reason,’ she adds.
Who’s in town
Total: 9
Independents: 6
Multiples: 3
Average costs
Prices of an eye examination range from £19 to £27. The average cost is £24.22
Population
Carlisle population: 108,400 (ONS, 2011)
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Cumbria Local Optical Committee has secured a contract for NHS North Cumbria CCG in Low Vision only.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Carlisle is £131,153 (Rightmove, 2016) compared with an average of £216,750 for England and Wales (Land Registry).
- NHS expenditure on vision problems in Carlisle per person is £99, compared with the UK average of £89 (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool 2015).
- 810 people live in Carlisle with late stage wet AMD and 390 with dry AMD (RNIB).
- There are about 1,250 people living in Carlisle who have cataract, 1,050 with glaucoma and 7,260 with diabetes. Some 2,180 patients have diabetic retinopathy, according to RNIB figures.
Fun facts
Carlisle was home to the first pillar-box for letters in 1853.
The first cardboard railway ticket was invented and used in Carlisle.
Her Majesty’s Theatre in Carlisle was the first theatre ever to be lit by electricity in 1880.
Carlisle Castle, pictured, built by William Rufus in 1092, once served as a prison for Mary Queen of Scots.
Famous Carlisle-born people include novelist Margaret Forster and her husband, journalist, broadcaster and biographer Hunter Davies.
Carlisle has a cathedral and is surrounded by largely intact city walls.