Birch Bridge (Brewster Road Bridge), Ipoh

Birth Bridge, Ipoh (3 May, 2016)

Birch Bridge (GPS: 4.59813, 101.07925) is a bridge across the Sungai Kinta in Ipoh, Perak. It is one of the two main bridges across the river that separates Ipoh Old Town from Ipoh New town.

Birch Bridge was named after Sir Ernest Woodford Birch, who was serving as the Resident of Perak when the bridge was completed. It takes traffic on Brewster Road (now called Jalan Sultan Idris Shah) across the river. Farther south, Hugh Low Bridge does the same for Hugh Low Street (now called Jalan Sultan Iskandar). As the road was formerly known as Brewster Road, the bridge is often also called Brewster Bridge.

Birch Bridge was first built in 1907 and has been upgraded a few times since. As was a common practise, not only in Ipoh but elsewhere including Bangkok and even London and Paris, the bridge attracted squatters who built their makeshift homes under the bridge. This happened at the aftermath of the Second War War, when many people were made destitute and homeless. Today there are no more squatters living under the bridge. On the north bank of Birch Bridge is the Ipoh Kuan Yin Temple.