Walkden has been designated as one of seven main town centres in the City of Salford,[4] and now largely functions as a retail centre and commuter suburb of Greater Manchester.
The name Walkden or Walkeden derives from the Old Englishdenu, a valley, belonging to a man possibly called Wealca (fuller), an Old English personal name. It has been in existence since at least the 13th century.[6] The name was recorded in documents dating to 1246.[7]
A Roman road crossed the area roughly on the line of the present A6 road through Walkden and Little Hulton.[8] In 1313, in 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".[9]
In the 15th century Walkden appears to have covered a wider area than at present, spreading into Farnworth and Little Hulton.[10]
In 1765 "Walkden Moor" was the subject of a parliamentary Enclosure Act.[11] The Duke of Bridgewater was the biggest landowner in 1786, owning over half the land. At one time Walkden was dominated by coal mines and textile manufacturing.
Industrial heritage
Walkden's industrial history links are mainly to coal mining, but also to cotton mills. There were many shafts for small collieries sunk to the shallow coal seams of the Worsley Four Foot mine on land owned by the Egertons, the Lords of the Manor of Worsley which included Walkden.
Named shafts were, Speakman's, Edge Fold, Lloyd's and Hey's Field before 1770, Turnpike Lime, Barlow Fold, Scowcroft's, and Crippin's Croft before 1780, Pin Fold, Parr Fold and Tub Engine before 1790 and Grundy's Field, Stone, Windmill, Charlton's, and the Inclined Plane Pit all before 1800.
After 1800 Urmston's Meadow, Moss Hill Top, Parkinson's and Sawney, Atkin's Croft, Barrack's, Magnall's, Ashton's Field and the Ellesmere were sunk but were independent of the levels.[12] Walkden Yard or NCB Central Workshops was situated south of High Street, close to Ellesmere Colliery was partly in Little Hulton.
It was built 1878 by the Bridgewater Trustees as a central works depot providing engineering services for their collieries and colliery railways. On the site there was a Drafting Office, Machine and Fitting workshop, Pump Shop, Joiners Shop, Electricians shop, Paint Shop, Blacksmith and Tinsmith Shop, Welders Shop, Locomotive Overhaul and Repair Shop, Waggon sheds and Waggon machine shop and a Conveyor Belt Repair Shop. The yard closed as a British Coal workshop in 1986 and is now a housing estate.[14]
Blackleach Country Park covers 50 hectares half-mile north of the town centre. The site is a designated local nature reserve. The reservoir was originally used by factories.[20]
The formerly derelict and badly polluted site at Blackleach was next to a chemical waste tip, and was crossed by a disused railway line. It was reclaimed and restored after a community campaign.[21]
A one tonne glacial erratic limestone boulder can be found in Parr Fold Park, indicated by an information sign. It is thought the provenance of the rock is linked to formations in the Lake District or South West Scotland, having been transported South to Walkden by melting ice 18,000 years ago.[22]
A small, gated angling pond can be found next to the Walkden Town Centre car park and can only be accessed by members. The site regularly holds fishing matches.[24]
Landmarks
Walkden Town Centre retail park
Walkden Town Centre
The main shopping destination in Walkden has been rebranded as Walkden Town Centre (previously The Ellesmere Centre), housing 447,000 sq ft of floor space.
The centre became the location for one of the largest Tesco stores in the UK when it opened in 2010. The centre has 2000 free car parking spaces and is visited by 150,000 shoppers every week. [25]
Despite £70 million being spent on Walkden Town Centre regeneration,[27] the centre has been subject to criticism for a leaking glass roof that covers the centre. An installation made up of plastic buckets hanging from the roof was placed by shopping centre managers Derwent Estates (the management company for The Derwent Group, which manages the assets of The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation as a subsidiary company[28]), to make light of the issue. [29]
Plans were announced in 2017 for a 'Phase 5' development of Walkden Town Centre, and this included provision for a new cinema and plans to increase footfall in the old side of the centre.[30]
Subsequent plans have since been released for Egerton Walk and Victoria Square sections of the centre by The Derwent Group in October 2023. These include provision for new retail units, green space, a pedestrianised boulevard and a new shopping centre atrium, with works totalling at least £15 million. These new features would be built by November 2025, following planned demolition works. [31]
The Ellesmere Centre
The Ellesmere Centre had a clock-tower which is a replica of the Lady Bourke Clock which once stood by the NCB Offices in Bridgewater Road. It was taken down when the Tesco store was erected. The original clock was used to alert coal miners to the beginning or end of their shifts.
The workers claimed that they could not hear the clock strike once at 1.00pm to mark the end of dinnertime and the resumption of the working day, and it was altered to strike 13 times at 1.00pm, a tradition continued by the replica clock.[32]
The Ellesmere Monument in St Paul's Churchyard was erected in 1868 to commemorate Harriet (d. 1866), wife of the 1st Earl of Ellesmere.[33] It was designed by T. G. Jackson, and inspired by the medieval Eleanor crosses.
It originally stood at the junction of the A6, A575 and B5232 roads but was moved into the churchyard in 1968 to reduce traffic congestion. Statues of four angels on the monument were stolen. A project to restore the monument was completed in 2006. It was later rebuilt.
Walkden Town Hall was demolished in 1999, to create extra car parking spaces for Walkden College.[34]
Parr Fold Park has a cenotaph memorial, which is the site of Walkden's annual war Remembrance Day services. There is also a memorial garden to remember dead service men and women.[35]
There are extensive and frequent bus services in Walkden, 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.
The Stagecoach 38 route runs through Walkden and terminates at Manchester Piccadilly or Logistics North in Bolton.
The RHS1 bus route links Manchester City Centre, Walkden Station and the RHS Garden Bridgewater between 1 April and 1 October each year. [36]
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway provided a station on the Manchester-to-Wigan line in 1888. Walkden railway station, originally known as "Walkden High Level railway station", remains open. Both lines were built as a result of the coal mining in the area.
According to 2006 figures, Walkden station (operated by Northern Rail) was used by over 150,000 passengers annually;[38] by 2012/2013 this had risen to 322,590.
Monday to Saturday daytimes, two trains per hour go eastbound to Manchester Victoria and two per hour towards Wigan - both trains continue to Wigan Wallgate westbound and one continues to Kirkby (down from three each way prior to the pandemic).
On 11 March 2020, The Chancellor of The Exchequer announced that Walkden Station would be one of 12 stations to receive Access for All funding from Network Rail, in order to develop step-free access to the station.[40]
In April 2023, a Park and Ride facility for 107 cars was opened by Salford City Council. The site also includes a bike storage shed for 32 bikes, electric charging stations for electric vehicles and motorcycle bays.[41]
Active Travel
The Roe Green Loopline walking and cycle track near Walkden Road. The path overlays the site of a former railway track bed.[42]
The Roe Green Loopline passes through Walkden and is a 7.2 kilometre traffic-free, off-road walking and cycling route that starts in Monton and runs all the way to the Salford-Bolton border.
Works to the final two stretches of the route between Tynesbank and Mesne Lea School and between Anchor Lane and Mount Skip Lane were completed in summer 2016. [43]
Roads
Walkden is at the junction of A6 and the Bolton to Worsley A575. The East Lancashire Road (A580) passes to the south and connects to the M60 ring-road and the motorway network.
The M61 to the east of 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).[44]
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.
St Paul's Church was founded in 1838 in the church school and was originally known as St George's Chapel. The foundation stone for St. Paul's at Walkden Moor was laid in 1847 by Lady Brackley, daughter of the Earl of Ellesmere. The church cost £4,500 and was dedicated in 1848 by the Bishop of Manchester.
The church was extended in 1881 by the addition of the north aisle, built at a cost of £1,000 which was raised by the parishioners. The east windows date from 1884 and mosaic panels are from 1904.[48]
St John's Church was founded in 1876 in Walkden although most of its parish is in Little Hulton, it is part of the Walkden & Little Hulton Team Ministry.[49]
There are two Methodist churches, Walkden Methodist Church and Worsley Road North Methodist Church. Christ the King Roman Catholic Church serves the Roman Catholic communities of Walkden, Roe Green and Worsley.[50] There is also a Congregational church.[51]
Walkden featured in the news in 1994, when well-known British television host Richard Madeley was arrested for failing to pay for items, including champagne, on two occasions at Tesco supermarket in Walkden.[52]
Then British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Walkden during the 2017 Conservative Party Conference to meet a couple who had just bought a new build house using the government's Help to Buy Scheme.[53]
Walkden is known to have produced multiple actors and actresses who feature in the British soap opera Coronation Street, which is set in Salford.
^Farrer, William; Brownbill, J, eds. (1911), "Townships: Farnworth", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, British History Online, pp. 34–39, retrieved 20 January 2010
^Farrer, William; Brownbill, J, eds. (1911), "Townships: Worsley", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4, British History Online, pp. 376–392, retrieved 20 January 2010
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