Everything about Walkden totally explained
Walkden is a town within the
metropolitan district of the
City of Salford, in
Greater Manchester,
England. It is seven miles (11.5 km) to the west-northwest of
Manchester, and six miles (10.1 km) west-northwest of
Salford.
Historically part of
Lancashire, Walkden was once a centre for
coal mining and
textile manufacture
According to the
United Kingdom Census 2001, Walkden had a total resident population of 38,685.
Geography and administration
Neighbouring towns, villages and places.>
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Until 1894, the majority of Walkden lay within the ancient ecclesiastical Parish of
Eccles, within the
Hundred of Salford, although some parts of Walkden; including
Linnyshaw and Toppings Bridge, lay within the Parish of
Deane.
Walkden was one of several areas amalgamated into the newly created
City of Salford metropolitan district of
Greater Manchester in April 1974, as part of the provisions of the
Local Government Act 1972, having previously formed part of the
Worsley Urban District in the
administrative county of
Lancashire. Prior to that, from 1868-1885, it lay within the
South East Lancashire constituency.
History
The term Walkden or
Walkeden has been in existence since at least the 13th century. It was used in documents dating back to 1246. After a court case in 1313 over a dispute involving land, a jury decided that Walkden was too small to be considered a hamlet or a town but was "only a place in Farnworth". In 1765 'Walkden Moor' was the subject of a parliamentary
Enclosure Act.
Walkden's industrial history links are mainly to
coal mining, but also to
cotton mills. Underground canals still link Walkden to
Worsley (famous due to the
Bridgewater Canal), which were used to transport coal from the mines in Walkden until the railways were used as an improved form of transportation. There is a
railway station which is mainly used by commuters. This station was for many years known as Walkden High Level to differentiate it from the now demolished Walkden Low Level railway station, opened in 1875 and closed in 1954. Walkden Low Level connected Bolton with the main
Manchester-Liverpool route. This line also had railway stations at
Roe Green,
Worsley and
Monton (
Eccles).
The monument in
St Paul's Churchyard, close to the town centre, was erected in 1868 in memory of the Countess of Ellesmere. It was originally located in the town centre where the A6, A575 and B5232 meet but was moved in 1968 due to traffic congestion, into the churchyard. Over time, four of the
angels on the monument went missing. Not all of them have been found, and very recently, a project was completed to restore the stone monument, clean it and protect it. A plaque was added and a small metal fence erected around the monument in an effort to protect it from vandals. The work was finished around September 2006.
Education
Walkden has several primary schools, two
high schools and a
sixth form college. Walkden High School and St. George's RC High School will both, in the near future, be demolished if recent council plans go through. St George's won't be rebuilt. However, Walkden High will be rebuilt with the same name, but with a larger building, thereby increasing its pupil capacity.
A number of the town's
primary schools are
church schools. They include: St. Paul's, Crompton Street and St Paul's, Heathside, which are both
Church of England schools. Christ the King is the
Roman Catholic primary school for Walkden,
Worsley and
Roe Green. In addition there are three county
primary schools - they're North Walkden Primary School in the north of the town and
Mesne Lea Primary School and
James Brindley Primary School in south Walkden.
Salford College, a vocational post-16 college, has its main facilities located in Walkden at its
Worsley Campus on Walkden Road, close to the
railway station.
Transport
Walkden has extensive transport links. The local
railway station is located on Walkden Road and is a five-minute walk from the town centre. According to the latest figures, it's used by over 150,000 passengers annually. There are twice-hourly daytime services to both
Manchester and
Wigan, from where you can connect to services to
Manchester Airport and the rest of the UK. This is reduced to an hourly service each way in the evenings. There is no Sunday service from the station.
The
A6 runs through the centre of Walkden and the
East Lancashire Road (A580) runs parallel to Walkden, with connections to the
M60 ring-road and the motorway network. The
M61 in Walkden is in the
Guinness Book of Records for being the widest section of motorway in Britain, (there are 18 lanes side by side at
Linnyshaw Moss). There are also extensive and frequent bus services, mainly operated by
First Manchester, linking the town with
Manchester,
Bolton and
Leigh. Services include the 36 and 37 routes between Bolton and Manchester via
Farnworth (37),
Little Hulton (36) and
Swinton. Both services run a Monday-Saturday daytime service of every 10 minutes.
Industry and commerce
In the centre of Walkden is the local shopping precinct named the
Ellesmere Centre. It adjoins the retail park and was built as part of the same development. Entering the Ellesmere Centre on the
ground floor from the retail park, you pass through a set of doors into a small foyer. This foyer then has a further set of doors to enter into the centre itself. Directly above the foyer is a clock-tower. This contains a replica of the famous
Lady Bourke Clock, once standing proudly on the NCB Offices in Bridgewater Road(since demolished). The original clock was used to alert coal miners to the beginning or end of their shifts. Its bell would toll, supposedly loud enough to catch the attention of the miners. However, workers claimed that they couldn't hear it strike once at 1pm to mark the end of their dinnertime and the resumption of the working day. Therefore the clock was altered to strike 13 times at 1pm, a tradition carried over to the new replica clock. On entering the centre itself, you enter a market-like walkway containing, along the left-hand side, various stalls (including key cutting, accessories, makeup, dry flowers, purses and children's toys). To the right-hand side are various shops and a
bookmaker's. At the other end of the walkway is a set of doors leading you outside to a car park with access to Bolton Road and various big-name shops and banks, detailed below. Just before the doors is a
Post Office, where you can purchase many postal and
Philately-related items, along with foreign exchange services. This post office's name is Worsley Post Office, which seems a little odd when you'd normally expect it to be called Walkden PO.
Turning right before the post office leads you towards the main part of the centre. At the end of this section (which includes a
Boots Chemist and a
Newsagent's there are two
moving walkways to take people to the
first floor. These were installed as part of an extension to the centre, which replaced the previous Market Hall and Pembroke Hall concert / dining / theatre venue. The first floor (which was part of the original centre) is currently mostly empty. There are however two cafes;
"Granny's Pantry" and
"Lowry's" along with a smattering of other shops, mainly notable for
"Blades" barber's shop.
Passing the moving walkways, you enter a large
"market square". To the right of the square is the new extension, currently empty, and to the left of the square are numerous shops. These are positioned with main shops to the left and right and smaller shops running down the centre, so as to make two main walkways. There are various crossing points between the two walkways and there's an open-plan feel. At the edge of the square there's a
lift. Walking down the walkways, there are small sets of stairs to lead to the first floor. As you progress, you head towards the main entrance to the Ellesmere Centre, which opens onto Bolton Road. At the entrance there are two more moving walkways, again leading to the first floor.
Ellesmere Retail Park
Ellesmere Retail Park was built at the same time as the Ellesmere Centre's transformation from outdoor shopping precinct (named the
St. Ouen Precinct) to indoor covered shopping centre. The retail park plays host to several tenants including a 24-hour
Tesco superstore, a Total Fitness gym and a Buckingham
Bingo hall.
Kwik Save was also a tenant until it closed in 2005, leaving the northern side of the park looking rather empty save for two sports stores (
JJB and
JD Sports) and a
Blockbuster video store. There is also a small pond in the northern side of the retail park, mainly used by anglers. At the southern end of the park, there are three fast-food restaurants; the ubiquitous
McDonald's,
KFC and a
Subway, along with local businesses, some of whom were displaced from the Market Hall when the Ellesmere Centre underwent further expansion.
Bolton Road
Bolton Road is one of the main roads through Walkden, leading to
Bolton via
Farnworth. On it are numerous banks and building societies, including
Halifax,
Natwest,
Lloyds TSB and
Nationwide. There is also a
Sue Ryder Care and a
Help The Aged. Bolton Road also contains various local businesses such as PC Concepts and Pachino's Pizza along with a newsagent's and auto-parts store. A new health centre and library are under construction opposite the Ellesmere Centre, scheduled to be completed in 2008.
Blackleach Country Park
Blackleach
Country Park can be found in the old industrial area of Walkden. It was originally created to be used by factories, but soon the factories moved and the
reservoir was left. The lake was split in half. One half is now home to a wildlife reserve, whilst the other still acts purely as a reservoir.
One of the more famous factories of the Blackleach site was a factory which produced
dyes. Adjacent to the factory was a large mound of waste, known locally as "Stink Bomb Hill", due to the strong sulpherous smell that emanated from it. Some of the dyes were accidentally released into the air, and one of the hills in the park became a striking purple at its peak. Rumours spread about the hill and people began taking children, suffering with
whooping cough, up the hill, believing it would cure them. White clothes hung up on neighbouring washing lines would too be tinged purple.
Religion
A number of religions are represented in Walkden. There are two
Anglican churches,
St. Paul's and
St. John the Baptist. There are two
Methodist churches, Walkden Methodist Church and Worsley Road North Methodist Church. Christ the King
Roman Catholic Church serves the Catholic communities of Walkden, Roe Green and Worsley. There is also a
Congregational Church. Nearby Little Hulton and Swinton have local congregations of
Jehovah's Witnesses, while Swinton also has a stake of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The
Salvation Army can be found in
Farnworth, with other branches in Swinton and Eccles.
Notable residents
- Jamie Moore, former British Light-Middleweight Boxing Champion,
- Alan Halsall, actor, (Tyrone Dobbs - Coronation Street),
- Sarah Whatmore, singer
- David Bamber, actor
- Mark Barry, singer (BBMak)
- John Wilkinson OBE, chairman of Salford RLFC
- Alan Ball MBE, footballer (lived in Walkden when England won the 1966 World Cup)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Walkden'.
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