The General Birch was a Chesters house sandwiched in between the Old House at Home (still standing no longer a pub) and the railway on Ashton Old Road, near town on the Ardwick/Beswick border. This 1955 image from the archives allows a nice BEFORE & AFTER comparison of the site of the old pubs today. The General Birch is also shown in the 1970s with its traditional tiled frontage. The only definite history on the General Birch is that John Hammond Bell was landlord in 1862 [1]. Quite why the decision was made to drop this fine old pub and retain the plainer looking Old House is anyone's guess.
