Memoirs of a Yorkshire Physio

A great place for a business

I first came to Honley over 30 years ago after a conversation with John Dixon from Dixon & Frank’s.  I was fairly new to the Huddersfield area and looking for a location in the Holme Valley to open a physiotherapy practice. John suggested that  Honley would be a good location and that I needed to come and have a look.  I immediately liked the feel of the village and soon found a property that I thought was suitable to convert. The rest, as they say, is history.

The clinic opened 30 years ago this year. During that time I have seen lots of changes and positive development in the village, which has resulted in the thriving and friendly community that it is today.

A comer-inner who belongs

When the clinic first opened all those years ago there was a family butchers at the bottom of Church Street run by David and Roger Greaves, two well-known local characters. They very quickly informed me that however long I stayed in Honley I would always be a ‘comer-inner’ – so get used to it! Technically, I suppose I still am a comer-inner, but feel that I belong here now.

One abiding memory I have of those early days is of assessing a lady with a neck problem. During the conversation I asked her if she was from ‘round here’. She replied “Oh no! I’m from Netherton.” Enough said.

More to offer

There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then, but we are still here. In fact the clinic has grown to incorporate other practitioners and disciplines, and currently we have two physiotherapists, a sports podiatrist, a consultant clinical psychologist, a doctor who provides commercial occupational health services and an audiologist who deals with hearing aids and testing.  If you would like to know more about all  the services available at the clinic please ring us, or details can be found on our website.

Smile and carry on!

I am sure a lot of our HBA members will agree that this year is proving to be one of the most challenging years of working that we have known. Everyone, however, is putting in a huge amount of effort to keep our businesses working in as normal a way as possible. I am very pleased to say that we are working full time hours, although with the covid-19 restrictions, onus on patient safety and extensive use of PPE we are sadly not at full capacity. Hopefully, things will change for the better in the next 6 months.

Good luck everybody. Stay safe & well and hopefully we can return to a more normal carry-on as soon as possible.

Keep smiling… it could be worse!

Chris Horner, Physiotherapist, Holme Valley Clinic Ltd.