As you move down Lincoln’s Steep Hill – which is true to its name – you start moving from old town to new. With this change in scenery, and as you reach the river, you start to see a lot of different shops, many of which are opticians. But one is never far from the towering cathedral that dominates the city’s skyline.
‘Lincoln is a truly beautiful city. The cathedral is around 1,000 years old and has been through it all; flood, fire, earthquake, you name it. Cromwell even sacked it in 17th century,’ says Harold Barnaby, a local optician who works in the community with people suffering from mental health issues.
For Jason Rickaby, manager and owner of Jason Rickaby Opticians: ‘Lincoln is a lovely medieval town, a charming weekend away kind of place. I would definitely suggest a visit for anyone who hasn’t been.’
Rickaby bought his practice about 12 years ago after employment with Specsavers and has really enjoyed working in the area. He says the number of ‘very good independents’ means there is a great ‘competitive environment’.
The local hospital has recently dropped contact lens and low vision services, which Rickaby says has meant a more diverse customer base for certain practices as some patients have been left with nowhere to go for treatment and monitoring services.
Jen Marchant, practice manager at Craig Leaver Eyecare, says: ‘Lincoln is a small town with lots of shops and facilities. There’s a nice mix between the historic old town on the hill and the more modern buildings down below.’
Her small independent, which has been running since 2011, has two testing rooms, OCT facilities and specialises in colorimetry testing – something that few practices in the area offer.
Marchant explains how round frames have been very in at the moment, with high demand from younger people. She acknowledges a ‘generation split’ as the traditional metal rim frames remain popular with the over 60s.
One local optician says Lincoln has ‘taken on a whole new look’ because of the growth of the local university. They have seen an increasingly diverse range of patients as the university just keeps getting ‘bigger and bigger’.
Sue Edwards (pictured), practice manager and DO at Martin Smith Opticians, agrees the university has ‘changed the city enormously’. She says her ‘clinically driven’ practice predominantly treats over-65s but since last year, when it became the first UK practice to start 3D sight testing, it has attracted a younger crowd and is getting roughly six new patients a week.
Who’s in town
Total: 15
Independents: 9
Multiples: 6
Average costs
The price of an eye exam in Lincoln ranged from £20 to £79, producing an average cost of £40.
Population
Lincoln population: 97,795 (2016)
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Lincolnshire Local Optical Committee has secured a contract with West Lincolnshire CCG for Glaucoma Repeat Readings, Ophthalmology Referral Triage and Minor Eye Condition Services.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Lincoln is £199,341 (Zoopla), compared with the UK average of £226,756 (Land Registry, 2017).
- Lincoln has an average salary of £22,193 compared with a UK average of £27,271 (Payscale, 2018)
- In 2016, there were an estimated 9,800 people living with moderate or severe sight loss in Lincolnshire (RNIB)
- RNIB estimates a 54% increase in the number of people living with cataracts in Lincolnshire by 2030, compared with 51% across England as a whole
Fact file
Lincoln cathedral is almost 1,000 years old and was the tallest building in the world for 238 years after remodelling in the 14th century, surpassing the Great Pyramid.
Lincolnshire was home to the first policewoman in the UK to be given full powers of arrest. Edith Smith, pictured, a former midwife, worked in Grantham from 1915-17 and sought to end the scourge of prostitution that was blighting the town.
Lincoln played a part in the birth of modern warfare. The first tank, built for WWI by William Foster & Co, was trialled on the Lincoln streets where Tritton Road is today.
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