“All change” at Walkden …

Freshly painted stairway walls and a new roof make very welcome improvements to Walkden station

October has arguably been the best month for Walkden station since FOWS was launched in February 2007, with numerous, sizeable improvement projects coming to fruition.

Firstly the roof renovation is nearly complete and looking infinitely smarter than the old roof. The new roof should be water-proof again, so the water damage caused by leaks onto the stairways should become a thing of the past.

After Network Rail rejected our initial request to repaint the stairway walls (arguing this was the responsibility of Northern Rail) we were delighted when the decision was reversed and the whole length of the stairway and Booking Hall walls were freshly painted. The results are a vast improvement on the grubby, stained walls we had before.

The long-awaited tannoy system is also nearing “go-live” too, and may even be working by the time you read this. Having a local tannoy will enable staff to inform passengers of delays without having to close the Booking Office to walk up to the platform.

For a more detailed review of the station’s improving condition, check out our latest station condition report.

And FOWS are doing their bit too … pending a council funding decision today we hope to have winter plants installed in the gardens very soon.

Our thanks to Network Rail for station painting

Repainted walls and handrails at Walkden

Hats off to Network Rail who have repainted the stairway walls at Walkden as part of the roof repair project.

The walls of the stairs and booking hall had not been painted for many years and had become dirty and stained, while the red paint on the handrails was peeling and flaking away.

As our picture shows, the shiny new walls and handrails are a great improvement and give the station a much more inviting appearance. And from the way passengers rounded on kids suspected of recent graffiti damage to the station, the bright and clean walls are well appreciated by station users too !

As we understand the situation from previous discussions, repainting of the walls is the responsibility of the train operating company (Northern Rail). Network Rail’s decoration work is therefore even more appreciated as it was not their responsibility to tackle the job anyway.

The newly-retiled station roof at Walkden

The roof repairs, which started in August, are nearly complete and most of the scaffold will be removed this weekend, putting an end to some local kids’ dangerous use of it as a climbing frame.

Away from the public areas of the station Network Rail have installed a floor in a disused room which should provide lots of useful storage space for staff.

Police efforts pay dividends

Thanks to British Transport Police and the local Community Support Officers, anti-social behaviour and vandalism at the station has markedly declined in recent weeks.
Regular visits by uniformed and plain clothes officers have had the desired result, and station staff report a notable improvement in the overnight condition of the station – something FOWS have also noticed on our last few Sunday morning litter collections.

Mind your step

The problem of pigeon mess on the platforms has been getting worse throughout the year and some areas are so bad they probably present health risks – as well as being generally unpleasant for passengers of course.

FOWS have raised the issue with Northern Rail several times but we haven’t heard of any plans to deal with it yet.

Gardening and tidying the station

FOWS gardeners have had a busy morning weeding the flower beds and taking out the summer-flowering plants like daisies which have now gone over.

It may have been a poor summer for gardeners generally but plenty of things have still been growing – as evidenced by the 7 bin bags of green waste we carted away today !

We hope you agree the flower beds look a bit smarter once again.

Walkden sunflowers bloom !

Sunflowers and daisies make a colourful scene on the Wigan platform at Walkden

The sunflowers donated by FOWS member and keen gardener Peter Hope are coming into flower and adding a striking dash of colour to the platforms at Walkden.

Unfortunately half of the 10 flowers Peter planted have been destroyed by vandals, but those that remain are adding a welcome splash of sunshine and colour to this wet summer.

Sunflowers suffer at the hands of vandals

Sadly, the sunflowers on the Manchester platform have suffered an attack of vandalism.

Click here for a reminder of how lovely they looked on Sunday.

We can only feel sorry for passengers who have enjoyed the sight of these beautiful plants surging toward the sun, and also for the individual responsible who clearly has some issues if they enjoy attacking pretty flowers !

FOWS fresh up flower beds at Walkden

We’ve been unable to attend to the flower beds for a few weeks due to holidays and commitments, so there was quite a bit of weeding to be done at the station this morning.

We also put in some new bedding – Busy Lizzies and Pansies – to brighten it up, and some beautiful begonias kindly donated by Peter Hope (who also gave us the wonderful sunflowers now shooting up on both sides of the platform).

A special thank you to Frank Bridge too, for repairing the wooden kickboards at the west (Wigan) end of the Manchester platform, unfortunately they’d been kicked once too often !

Hopefully this year we won’t have any plants nicked and they will give pleasure to station visitors all summer long.

Flower beds are blooming marvellous

Tulips are the highlights of a colourful display on the Wigan flower bed

The flower beds and planters have really benefited from the recent sunny weather and we now have a blaze of colour on the platforms.

We hope passengers enjoy the seasonal colour and agree it’s a great improvement on the disused dirt patches that used to be here.

Walkden gets a spring clean from Jet Clean

The algae-covered station sign before ...

Walkden’s historic entrance today received a deep spring clean thanks to local pressure-cleaning specialists Jet Clean.

Working for over 5 hours the team jet washed the bricks and stonework around the doorway, the floor of the porch, the station’s street signs, and the first three steps of the lower stairway.

... and after

The difference is dramatic – the original cream and pink colours of the ornamental bricks and sandstone are shining through and the floor of the porch looks brand new. The first three steps and the lower three grey sandstone blocks to the right of the entrance clearly show the extent of the improvement when compared to their neighbours.

The work was carried out with full regard to the Health and Safety regulations that surround any kind of work at a railway station, with a lookout posted on the pavement to ensure passers-by were not inconvenienced.

The porch floor is glistening clean for the first time in years

Tony Williams of Jet Clean said “I live locally and when the community asked for some help I wanted to do what I could”. FOWS are extremely grateful to Jet Clean for performing this work free of charge.

FOWS also wish to thank Bill Robison and Chris Ingham of Northern Rail for their help in securing Network Rail’s permission for the clean up to go ahead.

Members of the Jet Clean team prepare to start work at Walkden