land rover IIA-88-1965 timing sequence

Aloha, I have a 65 88-IIA landrover in Hawaii. can the valve adjustment be from front of the motor equally as well as from the back of the motor. I recently had an elder European mechanic work on the car and he said that the valve adjustment was done-by another elder European-- with the cylinder nearest the flywheel as the number one cylinder in adjustment of the valves and in the timing for the motor--but for most of us the reverse of what is normally done. Is this possible. Misha