A BOOK documenting 175 years of West Cheshire Hospital has been launched by a staff member.

Author of The Best is Yet to Be, Stan Murphy is more than qualified to comment on the history of the hospital as he has worked there as a nurse for more than 45 years, from the age of 15.

The title of the book was inspired by the Medical Superintendent, Dr G Hamilton Grills, who wrote a brief history of the County Mental Hospital (as it was then) in July 1929 to mark its centenary.

He ended with the following words: 'In looking back over the hundred years just past, we cannot help but feel, that, in the process of evolution, the best remains. The best is yet to be.'

The hospital was officially opened on August 25, 1829, then named The County Lunatic Asylum, Cheshire.

Stan's book documents the hospital's past when only a dozen attendants, a matron and two part-time doctors started in practice.

It documents the immense extensions and changes throughout the years including the fire of 1977 that gutted Larch Ward of the Moston Hospital.

The Best is Yet to Be chronicles the developments in mental healthcare and social attitudes towards patients. It wasn't until 1920 that the word 'asylum' was dropped and the hospital was

The hospital was eventually named West Cheshire Hospital in 1970.

This year, 2004, sees the hospital celebrate its 175th anniversary, and the building of a new Mental Health Unit on the Countess of Chester Health Park.

The unit has been designed to provide modern facilities for those people with a mental illness who require hospital admission. But the changes mark the end of an era for the hospital and its staff, and also inspired Stan to document the hospital's long history in his book.

Stan, 60, added: 'I started gathering information about the hospital and memories from staff in spring this year. I found that individual memories and anecdotes from staff past and present were the best way to reveal the changes that had taken place at West Cheshire Hospital throughout the ages.'

A reunion for staff was held at Upton British Legion and Stan asked people to bring along their memories and old photographs of the hospital.

Stan began work at the hospital as a cadet nurse aged 15. He worked at the hospital until his retirement five years ago but couldn't keep away, returning to work part-time as a staff nurse.

The Best is Yet to Be is priced £9.95 available from Booklands in Chester, or from C.C Publishing, Martins Lane, Har-grave, Chester, CH3 7RX. Call 01829 741651.