Cwmbwrla since 1986 independent

Two optometrists, fifty years between them, on Carmarthen Road.

Cwmfelin Opticians has looked after eyes in this corner of Swansea since 1986. The practice was The Optical House at Caebricks Road for thirty-five years. In February 2021 we moved across to the Burlais Brook Business Hub, sharing the car park with the Cwmfelin Medical Centre and Pharmacy.

Today the practice is run by Kieron Johns, optometrist, and Charles Dickens, optometrist, with fifty years of optometry between them. Retinal photography at every full sight test. NHS and private. WECS walk-in for urgent eye care.

Book a sight test Wales Eye Care walk-in Our story since 1986

The mint frame wall inside Cwmfelin Opticians, Carmarthen Road, Swansea

EST. 1986 Swansea · SA1 1HG

Inside the practice The mint frame wall on the day Kieron was setting up a new display. Monday 18 May 2026.

1986 Year the doors first opened

50 Years of optometry, between two

2 Optometrists on the floor

30 Seconds to the GP, across the car park

Who you will see · both GOC registered

Two people at the bench, not a rota.

Walk in on a Tuesday and you will be seen by Kieron or by Charles, the same Tuesday and the Tuesday after that. We do not run a rotating team, we are the team.

Optometrist · GOC registered

Kieron Johns

Named on the shopfront window at 250 Carmarthen Road. Runs the test room with the Nidek autorefractor and slit lamp. Retinal photography taken at every full sight test.

Optometrist · forty years in optics

Charles Dickens

Previously at Gower Opticians. Works the lens finishing bench, with the focimeter and the Norville lens drawers behind him. Repairs and adjustments done at the bench, kettle on.

Wales Eye Care Service · WECS · walk-in

Across the car park from the Cwmfelin Medical Centre.

Red eye, sudden flashes and floaters, foreign body, a vision change that came on this week. These are the things the Wales Eye Care Service covers, free at the point of care, no NHS card needed and no GP referral.

Phone the practice on 01792 641141 and we will fit you in the same day where we can. If you have come from the GP surgery, the door is 30 seconds away across the shared car park off Carmarthen Road.

Red, sore or painful eye
Sudden flashes, floaters, vision change
Foreign body in the eye
Free at the point of care for anyone in Wales

Phone the practice →

Shared car park · 250 Carmarthen Road · SA1 1HG

What we do here

Four things the practice does well.

The shopfront covers eight headings. We have written the four we are asked about most below, in plain English.

01 Sight tests

Full sight tests, NHS or private.

Thirty to forty minutes with the Nidek autorefractor and the slit lamp. Retinal photography included as standard, not as an upsell. NHS-funded under GOS Wales if you are eligible, private fee otherwise.

02 Urgent eye care

Wales Eye Care Service, walk in.

Red eye, sudden flashes and floaters, foreign body, blurred vision that came on this week. Free at the point of care, no NHS card needed, no GP referral. Phone first and we will fit you in the same day where we can.

03 Children

Children's eyecare, free on the NHS in Wales.

Free NHS eye tests for everyone under 16, and under 19 if in full-time education. Frame choice, prescription and follow-ups all in the same room you started in.

04 Contact lenses

Daily, monthly and specialist contact lenses.

Trial pairs fitted in the practice. Daily disposables, monthlies, toric, multifocal and rigid gas-permeable where suitable. Aftercare appointments included in the fitting fee.

Forty years on the A483 corridor

From The Optical House at Caebricks Road, to Cwmfelin Opticians on Carmarthen Road.

The practice opened in 1986 as The Optical House, Cwmbwrla, on Caebricks Road. For thirty-five years it traded under that name. In February 2021 the doors closed on Caebricks and opened on the other side of the Cwmbwrla roundabout, inside the Burlais Brook Business Hub at 250 Carmarthen Road.

The new name on the fascia is Cwmfelin Opticians. The two people behind the counter are the same. The kettle is in the back room.

“Independent, not a chain. We see who walks in, we know who walks back.” The practice, on the move to Carmarthen Road

1986 Established

The practice opens as The Optical House at Caebricks Road in Cwmbwrla.

2010s Charles joins

Charles Dickens moves over from Gower Opticians, bringing forty years of optics with him.

2021 Carmarthen Road

February. The practice moves into the Burlais Brook Business Hub, sharing the car park with Cwmfelin Medical Centre.

2025 Cwmfelin Opticians

Rebrand from The Optical House to Cwmfelin Opticians, the name now on the fascia at 250 Carmarthen Road.

Today Two optometrists

Kieron Johns and Charles Dickens, fifty years of optometry between them, at the same bench and the same test room.

$Kieron Johns at the Nidek autorefractor in the test room at Cwmfelin Opticians$

The test room · Nidek autorefractor · slit lamp

Retinal photography included · on-site lens bench

Retinal photographs at every sight test, and a lens bench at the back of the shop.

Two technical things worth saying out loud. The first is retinal photography. We take a retinal photograph at every full sight test, not as a paid-for extra. The image goes into your record and is compared to the one we took last time.

The second is the lens bench. Most independents of our size send glazing out to a regional lab. We keep enough Norville lens stock in the drawers to glaze single-vision and stock-power prescriptions on the bench in the back room. Where the prescription allows, that drops a one-week turnaround to two or three days.

Test room: Nidek autorefractor, slit lamp, retinal camera, eye-anatomy chart on the wall.
Lens bench: Focimeter, frame warmer, Norville lens drawers, repairs and adjustments while you wait where stock allows.
Imaging: Retinal photography at every full sight test, on-call awareness of OCT pathway for diabetic and macular checks.

Visit the practice · SA1 1HG

Come in, give us a call, or drop us a message.

250 Carmarthen Road, Swansea SA1 1HG. Burlais Brook Business Hub, sharing the car park with Cwmfelin Medical Centre and Pharmacy. Thirty metres from the Cwmbwrla roundabout, two minutes off the A483.

Phone: 01792 641141
Email: hello@cwmfelinopticians.co.uk
Monday: 09:00 to 17:00
Tuesday: 09:00 to 17:00
Wednesday: 09:00 to 17:00
Thursday: 09:00 to 17:00
Friday: 09:00 to 17:00
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

Finding us

Burlais Brook Business Hub, off Carmarthen Road.

Free shared car park with the Cwmfelin Medical Centre and Pharmacy. Buses on the Carmarthen Road service stop one minute from the door. The practice is the navy-fascia unit with the A-board outside.

Five questions on the counter

What people ask us at the front desk.

Five questions, the answers we give in the shop. Phone the practice if your question is not here.

Will my eye test be free?

Free on the NHS in Wales if you are under 16, under 19 in full-time education, over 60, on certain qualifying benefits, or in one of the medical eligibility groups. We can check your eligibility on the phone before you come in. Otherwise the private fee covers the full test including retinal photography.

I have something in my eye, or a red eye, or I am seeing flashes. Can I walk in?

Phone first on 01792 641141 and we will fit you into the Wales Eye Care Service pathway the same day where we can. WECS is free at the point of care for anyone in Wales with an urgent eye-health concern. You do not need a GP referral.

Do you do contact lens trials, or do I have to commit?

Trial pair fitted in the practice on the first appointment, with a follow-up included so we can check the fit and answer questions. No commitment until you and the lenses are settled.

Can I bring in my own frame to have lenses fitted?

Yes, subject to a suitability check at the bench. Some frames will not take a particular prescription cleanly, but most will. The check itself is free.

Where do I park?

Free shared car park with Cwmfelin Medical Centre and Pharmacy, off Carmarthen Road. Thirty seconds from the door of the practice to the door of the GP surgery, in case you have come from one to the other.