Walkden

Walkden
Population
OS grid reference	SD751030
• London	169 miles (273 km) SE
Metropolitan borough	City of Salford
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M28
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Worsley

Walkden is a component area of the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is seven miles (11.5 km) to the west-northwest of the City 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 settlements include Little Hulton, Worsley, Farnworth, Wardley, Swinton and Pendlebury.

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.

Walkden, which forms part of the Worsley parliamentary consistituency, is divided by three electoral wards; Little Hulton, Walkden North and Walkden South. Prior to 1983 Walkden lay in the now defunct Farnworth constituency. [1]

History

Walkden's history links it mainly to the coal mining industry, 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, many years ago, called Walkden High Level. On a different line nearby (also many years ago) was Walkden Low Level railway station. This second long-gone station was on a line which connected Bolton with the main Manchester-Liverpool route. This line also had railway stations both at Worsley and Monton (Eccles).

Also, the monument in St Paul's churchyard, close to the town centre, has a fairly notable history. After originally being located on a roundabout in the town centre where the A6, A575 and B5232 all meet, it was moved into the grounds of the church during the 1960s. 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 aroud the monument in an effort to protect it from vandals. The work finished around September 2006. The church itself was desecrated in 2005 when vandals spray painted inverted crosses and other satanic symbols on its walls and doors.

Education

Walkden has several primary schools and two main high schools - Walkden High (a comprehensive school) and St George's (A Roman Catholic school). Walkden High and St George's RC High will both, in the near future, be demolished if recent council plans go through. St George's will not be rebuilt. However, Walkden High will be re-constructed to the same name, but with a larger building, thereby increasing its student 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. Christ the King is the Catholic primary school for Walkden, Worsley and Roe Green. In addition there are three county primary schools - they are North Walkden County Primary in the north of the town and in south Walkden, Mesne Lea and James Brindley.

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. 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 runs parallel to Walkden, with connections to the M60 ring-road and the motorway network. There are also extensive and frequent bus services (notably the 36 and 37 routes), run mainly by First.

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 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 Walkden Town Hall (since demolished). The original clock was used to alert coal miners to the beginning or end of their shifts. Its loud bell would toll, supposedly loud enough to catch the attention of the miners. However, workers claimed that they could not hear it strike once at 1:00pm to mark the end of their dinnertime and the resumption of the working day. Therefore the clock was altered to strike 13 times at 1:00pm, 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 childrens toys). To the right-hand side are various shops and a bookmakers. 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.

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 there are two moving walkway's to take people to the second floor. These were installed as part of an extension to the centre, which replaced the previous Market Hall and Pembroke Halls concert / dining / theatre venue. The second 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 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 center, so as to make two main walkways. There are various crossing points between the two walkways and there is an open-plan feel. At the edge of the square there is a lift. Walking down the walkways, there are small sets of stairs to lead to the second 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 second floor.

Ellesmere Retail Park

Ellesmere Retail Park was built at the same time as the Ellesmere Centre's transformation from outdoor shopping prescient (named the St. Ouen Prescient) 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 McDonalds, 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 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 and auto-parts store. A new Health Centre and library is under construction opposite the Ellesmere Centre, scheduled to be completed in 2008.

Blackleach Country Park

Blackleach Country Park can be located 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 as a reservoir.

One of the more famous factories of the Blackleach site was a factory which produced dyes. 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.

Churches

All the main religions are represented in Walkden. There is St Paul's Anglican (Church of England) church, a Congregational church, a Methodist church and Christ the King Roman Catholic 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, Reigning British Light-Middleweight Boxing Champion,
• Alan Halsall, (Tyrone Dobbs - Coronation Street),
• Sarah Whatmore, Singer
• David Bamber, Actor
• Mark Barry, Singer - BBMak

External links

• Salford City Council's local information for Walkden
• Salford City Council's Ward Profile for Walkden North
• Salford City Council's Ward Profile for Walkden South
• Friends of Walkden Station
• Walkden Low Level Station
• Walkden Town Hall Under Demolition
• This is Walkden - "The voice of the people".