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Walkden

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Walkden
PopulationExpression error: "38,685 (2001 Census)" must be numeric
OS grid referenceSD751030
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMANCHESTER
Postcode districtM28
Dialling code0161
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester

Walkden is a town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England.[1] It is 6 miles (9.7 km) west-northwest of Salford, and 7 miles (11.3 km) west-northwest of Manchester.

Historically a 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.[2]

History

The term Walkden or Walkeden [3] 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".[4] In 1765 'Walkden Moor' was the subject of a parliamentary Enclosure Act.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.

Governance

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.[8]

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.[1]

Walkden, which forms part of the Worsley parliamentary consistituency, is divided by three electoral wards; Little Hulton, Walkden North and Walkden South. Between 1885 and 1983 Walkden lay in the now defunct Farnworth constituency.[9] Prior to that, from 1868-1885, it lay within the South East Lancashire constituency.

Geography

Neighbouring towns, villages and places.

Education

Walkden has several primary schools, three high schools and a sixth form college. Walkden High School, St. George's RC High School and Harrop Fold Specialist Arts College. St George's will be being demolished in near future (2010 if Councils plans go ahead) and will not 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 are 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.[10]

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 is used by over 150,000 passengers annually.[11] 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 17 lanes side by side at Linnyshaw Moss).[12] 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.

Economy

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 could not 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 would 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 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 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 (that is currently under expansion plans from a local authority), 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 apart from a sports store JD Sports) and a furniture store Walmsley's Furnishings 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 Straight To The Point Tattooing & Body Piercing Studio 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 people

References

  1. ^ a b "A select gazetteer of local government areas, Greater Manchester County". Greater Manchester County Record Office. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  2. ^ United Kingdom Census 2001. "Greater Manchester Urban Area". statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 2007-04-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Gazeteer of Manchester Place Names". Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  4. ^ "British History Online-Farnworth". Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  5. ^ "England on the eve of the Industrial Revolution". Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  6. ^ "Disused Stations". Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  7. ^ "The University of the Third Age". Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  8. ^ "Vision of Britain 1887". Retrieved 2007-09-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |tile= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Review of Greater Manchester Boroughs". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  10. ^ "Salford College". Retrieved 2007-09-27.,
  11. ^ "Railway Passenger Numbers 2005-06". Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  12. ^ "British Roads". Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  13. ^ "Local lad was a world beater". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
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