From humble beginnings as a modest market town on the edge of the Cotswolds, Cheltenham is now one of the most desirable places to live in the country. The town earned prominence in the 18th century after mineral springs were discovered, rumour has it by a group of pigeons pecking at the site.
Cheltenham quickly became a fashionable health and holiday spa town resort. Its regency architecture, broad avenues and parks helps it host numerous literary and music festivals as well being as a gambling haven for those looking to earn their fortune at the races.
In the centre of town sits Optician Award winners Keith Holland & Associates. Spread across an impressive five floors, the practice provides for a large patient base. Practice owner Dermot Keogh says: ‘We provide care for a broad age group, mainly of higher end patients and get people from around the country because they are recommended to us. We’re a family optician so we can treat a lot of patients.’
Keogh, who is also a glaucoma optometrist for Gloucestershire NHS Hospital Trust, took over the practice in June. He has since been enthusiastic about pushing forward high quality eye exams. ‘We give a 45-minute eye exam for the patient’s first eye test and spend lots of time with the patient to create an individualised service with a highly qualified team all the way through – all with a smile on our faces.’
In order to provide for a large number of patients, the practice stocks a wide range of frames including brands such as Ray-Ban and Prada, yet designer labels are not always the most popular option. ‘We do stock designer frames but brands aren’t necessarily what customers go for, if anything people like a non-branded product just as much, and some even prefer to use non-branded,’ says Keogh.
This is echoed by Norville Opticians director Ian Richardson. He says: ‘We don’t find our patients drastically go for brands, but we do stock Stepper, Superdry, Duck and Cover and Barbour. We find a lot of patients like acetate and plastic frames, but as they often want them as light as possible, many go for titanium frames.’
Richardson says problems facing practices in Cheltenham are the same challenges encountered up and down the country. He says: ‘The multiples and online services are becoming more and more available. They compete on pricing and popularity but we challenge the multiples with the type of service we provide, and we do get a lot of our patients who have come from the multiples saying they haven’t received a good service.’
Who’s in town?
Total: 13
Independents: 9
Multiples: 4
Average cost
Average cost for an eye examination is £30.
Population - see pie chart
Cheltenham population: 115,732 (2011 Census)
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Gloucestershire Local Optical Committee has secured a contract for NHS Gloucester CCG in cataract referral and glaucoma referral refinement.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Cheltenham is £281,657 (Rightmove, 2016) compared with an average of £216,750 for England and Wales (Land Registry, 2016).
- NHS expenditure on vision problems in Cheltenham per person is £97, compared with the UK average of £89 (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool 2015).
- 810 patients live in Cheltenham with early stage wet AMD and 400 with dry AMD (RNIB).
- There are about 1,240 people living in Cheltenham who have cataract, 1,060 people with glaucoma and 7,250 with diabetes. Some 2,340 patients have diabetic retinopathy according to RNIB figures.
Fun facts
Author Lewis Carroll regularly visited Cudnall Street – home to Alice Liddell, pictured, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland
£150,000,000 bets are placed every year at the Cheltenham Festival racecourse.
In the Second World War, the flats of Cheltenham racecourse became a storage depot for American military equipment such as trucks, jeeps, tanks and artillery.
The first British jet aircraft prototype, the Gloster E.28/39, was manufactured in Cheltenham. It took its first flight in 1941.
British Olympic ski jumper Eddie the Eagle and composer Gustav Holst were born in Cheltenham.