Hose pipes in Metro .. anyone know about this?

I've got a lovely little Rover metro SLI 114, that has a strange setup.

All the other Metros I've seen have the water pipes coming from the radiator going into the engine in the opposite position. I.e. the position is reversed, as the pipe from the top of the radiator goes in the top and the pipe from the bottom goes in the bottom position.

But on my SLI its reversed.

I've been having probems with the cooling system, fan switch didn't work, thermostat gone and I'm wondering if my mechanic put the hose pipes in the wrong position.

Or is it possible that my SLI is different from all other Metros I've seen, though the engines look identical.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks