Learn About us

Hugh Corley

Hugh Corley was the only pupil of John McTimoney who had a Doctor of Chiropractic certificate signed by John McTimoney.

Hugh founded the Witney School of Chiropractic in 1984, starting with two students. Bobbie Nicholson joined the school in February 1985, and soon she became the only student, the two others having dropped out. Tutorials moved to Bobbie’s house, and therefore, 16 Tower Hill became the Witney School of Chiropractic for the next few years.

Nazir Kasar joined in September 1985, followed by Shelagh James-Hudson in February 1986. They had both begun their training at the McTimoney School some years before.

By 1988, Bobbie, Nazir, and Shelagh had qualified as Doctors of Chiropractic and set up a partnership with Hugh to run the School, forming the British Association for Applied Chiropractic (BAAC). Other students followed, therefore larger accommodation was found at Peers School, Littlemore, Oxfordshire, before a final move to Dorset House, Brookes University, Oxford.

The Oxford College of Chiropractic was formerly known as the Witney School of Chiropractic – so the abbreviations WSC or OCC may be found after a graduate’s qualification.

Qualifications obtained there were:

  • Licensed Chiropractor (LC)
  • Diploma in Chiropractic (DC)
  • Bachelor of Science Degree from Oxford Brookes University (BSc Chiropractic – OBU)


The professional body to which these graduates belonged, either as Fellows (F) or Members (M), was the British Association for Applied Chiropractic (BAAC).

The Oxford College of Chiropractic closed in 2002.

The Oxford College of Equine Physical Therapy (OCEPT) was formerly known as the Oxford College of Chiropractic Animal Course.

Qualifications obtained there were:

  •  Diploma in McTimoney-Corley Animal Manipulation – Dip. MCAM (OCEPT)


The Oxford College of Equine Physical Therapy closed in 2017.

The British Association for Applied Chiropractic was created in 1986 and established by Deed dated the first of September 1988. Its chief aims were to maintain professional standards in the practice of the McTimoney-Corley method of chiropractic throughout Britain, and to further public understanding of the technique.

Notice To Patients

In 1994 the Chiropractors Act was placed on the UK Statute books.

A ‘Register of Chiropractors’ was opened in 1999 by the statutory body known as the General Chiropractic Council (GCC) and the title of ‘Chiropractor’ has been protected by law since 2001.

This has meant that every person using the professional title of ‘Chiropractor’ must pay almost £1,000 per year to be registered with the GCC. Unfortunately, this increased financial burden to GCC-registered chiropractors has usually required a marked increase in patients’ treatment fees.

In 2001, some graduates of The Witney School of Chiropractic and The Oxford College of Chiropractic trained in The McTimoney-Corley method of chiropractic, decided to create their own Register of Practitioners in order to protect the McTimoney-Corley technique.  This technique was called McTimoney-Corley Spinal Therapy.

A ballot amongst its members regarding a merger with the McTimoney Chiropractic Association (MCA) was carried out in September 2001. The vote for the merger was carried with a small majority so the BAAC ceased functioning on the thirty-first of December 2001 and ceased to exist on the thirtieth of June 2002. The Association of McTimoney-Corley Spinal Therapists commenced on the first of July 2002 and became a limited company in October 2002.

Another ballot amongst its members regarding a change of name from ‘spinal’ to ‘skeletal’ to reflect our technique of the ‘Whole Body Whole’ was carried out in the Spring of 2017. The vote for the change was carried with a large majority so, from the first of July 2017, we have been called The Association of McTimoney-Corley Skeletal Therapists.

You can rest assured that your fully insured and registered McTimoney-Corley Skeletal Therapist will continue to put your interests first.

Association History

The association was created to perpetuate the McTimoney-Corley technique originally taught at the Oxford College of Chiropractic by Hugh Corley, Shelagh James-Hudson, Nazir Kasar and Bobbie Nicholson. Its aims were to unite our group and protect both the public and our practitioners.


The reasons for the creation of this association were:

  1. To support our General Chiropractic Council (GCC) registered graduates.
  2. To support those of our graduates who had not applied to join the newly formed GCC register of chiropractors (for whatever reason) so could no longer call themselves chiropractors and who were thus ineligible to join any of the other chiropractic associations.
  3. To support those members who trained in Animal Chiropractic but who are now not allowed to call themselves Animal Chiropractors. Animal Chiropractic is not legally recognised by the GCC and all such practitioners are now referred to as ‘Animal Manipulators’ and cannot register with the GCC.
  4. To obtain a block insurance scheme for all our members.

 

The chief aims of this association are:

  1. To maintain high professional standards of treatment, thus protecting the public and our members.
  2. To promote the McTimoney-Corley Lever Pivot Adjustment technique (LPA) previously known as the Reflex Recoil Adjustment (RRA) technique.
  3. To further enhance our members’ professional expertise through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses.

Technique History

Hugh Corley learnt the McTimoney toggle recoil for spinal adjustments from John McTimoney at the Oxfordshire School of Chiropractic. During the course, Hugh found that his hands were too big to perform the toggle recoil in, for example, a small person’s neck area and realised that he was changing his hand position to accomplish the procedure. With John McTimoney’s approval, Hugh went on to develop this new method into what is now known as The McTimoney-Corley Technique. As Hugh Corley felt that he owed a huge debt of gratitude to John McTimoney, he insisted that McTimoney’s name should be incorporated along with his own; hence The McTimoney-Corley Technique.

Contact us

The Association of McTimoney-Corley Skeletal Therapists Ltd (AMCST)

16 Tower Hill
Witney
Oxfordshire
OX28 5ER

bobbie.nicholson@btinternet.com

(07516) 085 450 (text only) or (01993) 774 418 (Bobbie’s Clinic)