John Bradley became a qualified osteopath in 1989. There is a picture on his mantle of Princess Anne presenting him with his credentials of which he is quite rightly proud. He actually set up his own business in Clayton-le-Moors as soon as he qualified but while he gained clients he needed to do some locum work which took him as far afield as Bury and Wilmslow.
“Like any new business, it was slow going at first, but it grew solidly, mostly by word of mouth.”
John also has another practice in Lytham which he used to visit but that is now run by his trusted colleague, Amy Dickinson.
John was born in Blackburn but the family moved to Rishton where he was brought up, when he was a year old. The youngest of six siblings (two brothers and three sisters) he attended St Augustine’s Secondary School followed by St Mary’s College, Blackburn.
It was while he was at the Blackburn College that he moved back to Blackburn for two years. It was also while taking his ‘A’ levels that John decided what path his career would take.
“I had a sister who was a physiotherapist and I found that very interesting, then my mother mentioned osteopathy and I decided that was what I wanted to do.” John told me. “I went to see an osteopath in Blackburn named David Gutteridge in action and decided it was for me.”
John applied to the three osteopathy colleges at that time and although he was accepted at all three, decided on The British School of Osteopathy in London where he embarked on a four year course.
The reason he chose osteopathy was that although both professions (physiotherapy and osteopathy) are similar in many ways, no two patients are the same and osteopathy is more ‘hands on’. Different patients respond to different treatments and it is a constant challenge to get results.
John met his wife of twenty-seven years, Claire when they were at their respective sixth-form colleges and they remain inseparable today. They have four children together. All of John’s children have helped out in his surgery, mostly after college in the late afternoons.
John explained:
“Although I have two full-time receptionists I work long hours so they have all helped me out. James, my sixteen-year-old does three hours every Friday afternoon.”
When John is not at work he likes to unwind and one way he has found to do this and keep fit is cycling. Since Claire also loves to cycle, the pair of them often set off early in the morning and ride off somewhere. Indeed John actually did the ‘London 100’ last year. That is 100 miles around the London area.
He also holds a season ticket for Blackburn Rovers and is a keen fan and likes to get away skiing whenever he can find the time. “I am a cautious skier,” he told me. “It wouldn’t look good if I turned up for work in plaster-of-Paris.”
I asked John if at any time in his life he had ever had any exciting or life-threatening encounters at all and he replied, “Not really, although I did go to the ‘Den’ to watch Blackburn in the 1980s when they played Millwall. That was scary enough.”
Next I asked John if he had any advice for young people considering osteopathy as a career. He said it was a very rewarding profession but like any other needed dedication and wasn’t easy to study, mainly because to have a complete understanding of the anatomy one had to learn many Latin phrases.
“Osteopathy isn’t only about the back. We treat peripheral joints as well; things like tennis elbow and ankle joints and sports injuries, although probably 90% of our work is spinal.”
For all that he couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else and even after twenty-seven years he is “never bored with it.” He went on to say:
“It is a good profession. No two days are the same so you have to be able to think on your feet and keep an open mind. It is not a profession where you can be set in your ways. You have to be open to a different perspective on things.”
I suggested that he must find it very rewarding when someone comes to him struggling to walk or to use their arms and leaves feeling much better and that some people must write to him thanking him. He told me about one such case.
“A mother brought her 14 year old daughter who had been complaining of severe headaches, which she had suffered with for four or five years and was struggling with her studies and leisure activities because of them. I did some gentle treatment in the neck area and didn’t see or hear from her again. Then a couple of weeks ago I got a sweet letter from the girl’s mother thanking me and that her daughter had got her life back. On the downside, it was now costing her a fortune in dance lessons! These are the things that make this job worthwhile.”
I asked John what he does to relax and he told me he loved music and recently went to a concert in Manchester with his two older sons aged 21 and 25 and some of his own mates to see a little-known band called DMAs. He is a big Oasis fan and was recently in Leeds watching Noel Gallagher. He also went to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester to see Coldplay.
He and Claire used to have a season ticket for the Octagon Theatre in Bolton.
“We hadn’t been for a few years but we went the other week. It is wonderful to see live acting, if it’s good of course,” he told me.
John also likes to watch good TV drama and recently watched enthralled as Happy Valley returned for a second series. He said the acting was brilliant and had special praise for writer, Sally Wainwright who created the series and is also responsible for Scott and Bailey and Last Tango in Halifax.
He is also a film fan but says he and Claire like different things. They both went to see 2015 film, “Room” recently and really enjoyed it.
John also likes reading and has just finished a Ken Follett trilogy and has also read Joseph Cannon.
“I like to read historical novels and autobiographies. I am reading Sam Allardyce’s at the moment.”
John Bradley has been my osteopath for over twenty years now and in all that time we have always found something to talk about whilst he has been treating me; both being long-suffering Blackburn Rovers fans has helped with that. I would like to thank him personally for this interview and for finding the time to talk with me.
You can also hear John's Podast. Please Click here
Peter Jones 2019
