120th Anniversary Party success !

FOWS held a celebration of Walkden station’s 120th anniversary yesterday morning, distributing 120 free goody bags to commuters, displaying historic photos of the station and enjoying a champagne toast and cermonial birthday cake cutting.

With great support from our colleagues at Northern Rail and British Transport Police the event put a smile on the faces of some slightly surprised passengers, and hopefully gave people a reason to feel a little more pride in the venerable old station.

Look out for coverage in next week’s Salford Advertiser.

Walkden celebrates 120 years

Wednesday July 2nd marks the 120th Anniversary of the first passenger service from Walkden, and FOWS will be celebrating the historic occasion from 7.30am to 9am in the station booking hall:

• grab one of 120 goody bags that FOWS will be giving out to celebrate the day
• enter our raffle and for just 50p you could win a return ticket for 2 adults and 2 children on any Northern service
• join the Birthday Cake cutting ceremony at 9am
• take the chance to talk to members of FOWS and representatives from Northern Rail and British Transport Police.

Join us to celebrate this long-serving, long-neglected amenity that’s finally experiencing a renaissance in appearance and passenger numbers !

Please check out our website for more information about the history of the station.

Station gets a scrub !

Fed up with waiting for the station to be cleaned by Northern Rail’s contractors FOWS volunteers have been busy sweeping and scrubbing the past couple of weekends. Although we can’t reach the areas beyond arm’s reach nor shift some of the more stubborn stains with soap and hot water alone, we hope passengers will enjoy a slightly cleaner station for a few weeks at least.

Transport Cop the star at FOWS AGM

The audience discussed concerns including lack of Sunday services, the dirtiness of the station (particularly the frontage and the pigeon mess on the pavements), disabled access and the high platform step at last night’s AGM, and we welcomed a dozen new members to FOWS.

PC Gareth Wilson was the guest speaker and gave an interesting presentation on the operation of BTP and reported incidents of crime at Walkden in particular. Many in the crowd were surprised to learn that based on levels of reported crime Walkden is one of the less problematic stations in the area. Conceding that the lack of contact details for BTP on display at the station may contribute to some under-reporting, PC Wilson promised to speak to Northern Rail about installing a BTP poster at the station. PC Wilson also promised to look into a number of issues raised by the audience and investigate the possibility of a crime prevention campaign at Walkden. PCSO’s Michelle Mckeown and Melissa Birchall accompanied PC Wilson and promsied to schedule in some more visits to Walkden in the near future. The police asked for help from the public by contacting them with any information or concerns about crime at the station, and they re-assured the audience that all calls are taken seriously and will be followed up.

The AGM was well supported by local councillors with Iain Lindley, Les Turner & Beryl Howard all present. We were also pleased to welcome Sarah Clarkson representing Barbara Keeley (who was in Westminster), and Elizabeth Charnley from our colleagues at FRECCLES (the Friends of Eccles Station). An update from Barbara on her activities in support of the station is on display in our poster case at the station.

The three serving officers of FOWS were re-elected (unopposed) for another year.

If you were unable to attend the meeting but would still like to join FOWS, please drop us an email at friends@walkdenstation.org.uk

FOWS AGM is next Tuesday

At 7pm on Tuesday 4th March the FOWS Annual General Meeting is being held in the large Concert Room at the Royal British Legion in Wilfred Street, Walkden. The bar will be open for refreshments.

The meeting is open to the general public and all interested parties are cordially invited to attend.

If you would like to become more involved with FOWS, or to just to come along to show your support, we would love to see you there.

At our previous public meeting we enjoyed presentations from Northern Rail and Barbara Keeley MP. This time the focus is more on FOWS itself - the election of officers, membership sign-up and planning for the next year. We do however have a short update from British Transport Police on the crime issues that affect the station.

We look forward to seeing you there !

Shadow Secretary of State Theresa Villiers visits Walkden station

Theresa Villiers at Walkden station with Councillors and FOWS supporters Les Turner and Iain Lindley

Following in the footsteps of Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Transport, who visited Walkden station last year the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Theresa Villiers yesterday dropped by to see the poor amenities for herself.

Mrs Villiers was particularly interested in FOWS’ campaign to ease over-crowding by re-opening the disused platform to allow longer trains to call, and she took several photos of the scene.
We welcome interest in Walkden station from national and local politicians of all parties and believe the provision of a safe, accessible, comfortable and environmentally-friendly train service is something every political party should commit itself to.

Surprise Visit by Ruth Kelly and Barbara Keeley

As those present at last week’s public meeting heard, local MP Barbara Keeley takes a keen interest in the improvement of Walkden station: she spoke earnestly to the meeting about its problems, and promised to speak to Secretary of State for Transport and MP for Bolton West Ruth Kelly.

FOWS were delighted to learn this week that the two MPs have visited the station.  Naturally we hope that its poor state will have made an impression on the Secretary of State, and that the visit will help secure some much needed investment. 

There is a full report on the MPs visit on Barbara Keeley’s weblog.  

The FOWS are grateful to both MPs for their interest in Walkden station, and for taking the time to visit the site.