Birch Arms Hotel / Out of the Blue, Gorton Lane

Birch Arms Hotel, Gorton Lane, West Gorton. (c) Gene Hunt at flickr under Creative Commons.

When MCFC moved back to their East Manchester roots in 2003, the struggling Birch Arms Hotel in West Gorton had once last go as 'Out of the Blue' but it didn't last long despite the weekend footfall from nearby Ashbury's station.  I remember popping in here as the Birch Arms a few times on the way to the pictures at Belle Vue back in the day when it was Boddingtons on the bar.  Alan Winfield at Pubs Galore photographed the Birch in December 1994 and remembers the Bass tied house selling decent Bass bitter as well as Boddies (two of the most famous cask ale brands in the world, both reduced to unloved and rarely brewed novelties by the callous AB InBev).  Today the pub is in use as a nursery.

Birch Arms Hotel / Out of the Blue, Gorton Lane, West Gorton. (c) Google 2012. View Larger Map.