A BIRTHDAY surprise shopping trip for designer clothes took 90-year-old Lillian Bulmer on a trip down memory lane.

As a teenager Lillian worked as a laundry girl at the old Naburn Hospital on the site of the swanky new McArthurGlen designer outlet - near the A64/A19 interchange - and she had not been back until close friend Ellen Willey arranged yesterday's surprise outing.

Managers at the designer complex rolled out the red carpet for Lillian, whose excitement was mixed with emotional memories of happy times at the hospital which once stood there.

Now her visit and her reminiscences have sparked an appeal for the public to come forward with memories and pictures which the McArthurGlen management will use to create a timeline feature on the history of the site.

Lillian, who lives off Burton Stone Lane, York, said: "I have to admit I don't like change, but it's very nice here. It was a very sad day when they demolished the hospital. It was a lovely building with polished floors and a huge dance hall where we had some wonderful times.

"Today is a lovely surprise but I should have known better of Ellen. She got me for my 85th, when she got together a group of my friends who surprised me at a York hotel. I could have cried at the time."

Ellen, who by coincidence worked at a former maternity hospital on the site years after Lillian left, said: "It seemed like such a great idea. I know Lillian has fond memories of her time at the hospital and I'm sure being on the site will bring them flooding back.

"She is a super lady and it's ironic that when she first came to York from the North-East her parents had just died and she knew no one. Now she's a well-known character in the community and sings in a local choir and plays the piano."

Lillian worked at Naburn Hospital for the mentally ill for five years, from the age of 18, and later went on to spend 28 years at The Retreat in Heslington Road, York.

Both hospitals on the site were demolished in the early 1980s and now the designer outlet's centre manager, Amanda Wright, and her team want to put together a chronology of the site.

She said: "We know, for example, that the clock from the hospital's clock tower is intact and working and we are looking at ways of bringing it back to the site.

"And we would love to hear from people who have memories, details or photos about anything relating to any part of the site's history."

Amanda said a time-capsule carrying details of the area will be buried as building of Phase II of the designer outlet commences in November.

Anyone who can help her build up an archive based on the site is asked to contact Phillip Chapman at the Evening Press, telephone 01904 653051 and details will be passed on. He can also be contacted by e-mail at