Walkden station gardens get a spring clean

A big thank you to our FoWS volunteers who’ve been weeding, pruning, sweeping, planting, and generally tidying up the flower beds and planters at Walkden this morning: Kathy, Harry, Mike, Peter, Andy, Angela and Neil

Thanks also to the guys at the Car Wash for topping up our watering cans during this hot, dry spell – very community spirited of you 🙂

Certainly more public spirited than the lady passenger who didn’t mind that sitting on the planters has damaged some plants because “I didn’t ask you to” put plants here!

Quite right ma’am – in fact nobody asked us to do it. We just thought it would make the station a nicer place for passengers like you to enjoy while waiting for their train.

Rhododendron planter: dedicated to the lady who never asked for it

FOWS give station a tidy up

Weeded and re-stocked troughs

Thanks to our volunteers who were out in the rain this morning to give the station some TLC.

Our team weeded the beds and planters, replaced a few poorly plants, ripped up platform weeds, and did a litter pick down Park Road and the surrounding area.

Foliage and litter removed from in and around the station

We removed 5 large bags of vegetation and 1 bin bag of litter.

We hope you agree it looks a bit tidier in and around the station (for a little while at least !)

Plants on the Wigan platform after a haircut !

Station tidy up

A peoris in bloom on the platform

Thanks to our small band of volunteers who gave up a couple of hours on Sunday morning to weed the planters and flower beds, and plant some new flowers to plug a few gaps where plants had died off or been damaged.

We also litter-picked the streets outside the station  … although it was disappointing to see a fresh collection of sweet wrappers and crisp packets blowing down Park Road this evening 😦

Bamboo and some newly planted flowers

 

White daffofils, helebores and bluebells on the Manchester platform

 

Spring cleaning

FoWS volunteers have been busy tidying up the flower beds and planting some new shrubs to replace damaged specimens … we hope you enjoy the improvements 🙂

 

FOWS install new planters at Walkden station

FOWS volunteers beside the new cube planter installed today

Several hardy FOWS volunteers braved this morning’s heavy rain to install the latest additions to our on-going environmental improvements plan – a third steel trough and another steel cube planter.

Volunteers also cleaned graffiti from the shelter, weeded the flower beds and planted some summer bedding.

Once again our thanks go to Salford City Council for the In Bloom funding which makes these improvements possible, and local supplies J. Hughes Engineering and Linnyshaw Garden Centre for their excellent quality products and generous free deliveries.

The latest trough from J. Hughes sparkling in the Walkden rain

Sun shines on new “In Bloom” planters installed at Walkden

Some of the FOWS volunteers who installed the new trough planters at Walkden

Friends of Walkden Station volunteers have been out in today’s sunshine to install the two new platform planters funded by an “In Bloom”  grant from Salford City Council.

The the low “trough” style planters have been manufactured in stainless steel by J. Hughes of Eccles, filled with ballast and compost from Linnyshaw Garden Centre, and planted up with shrubs grown on in members’ gardens.

The troughs are located next to the fence at the far end of the platform where they’ll help to soften the view of the fence as the shrubs grow.

Many thanks to our volunteers for their hard work (shifting 40 bags of ballast and compost up 48 steps and along the full length of the platform isn’t easy !), and our supporters at:

• Salford City Council for their on-going financial support of the In Bloom improvements at Walkden station;
• J. Hughes for manufacture and free delivery of more high quality and fine looking planters;
• Albert and the team at Linnyshaw Garden Centre for supply and free delivery of the ballast, compost and bedding plants;
• Mike & Sarah – the definition of good neighbours !

 

Flower beds bloom again – our thanks to Buckingham Group

The Buckingham Group team responsible for replanting the flower beds this afternoon

The platform work is complete and the team from Buckingham Group have planted up the flowerbeds that were unavoidably damaged during the seven-week engineering works.
As these photographs show, the flower beds have been restored to a high standard by Buckingham, with a solid stone kerb where we used to have wooden planking.

Secretary Neil Stapleton said “We could not be more pleased with the work Buckingham have done for Network Rail at Walkden. Not only do the new platforms look great, but the long-standing problem of the gap between platform and trains has been remedied. The team went ‘the extra mile’ by finishing off the edging to the flower beds beautifully, and spending a considerable amount of time and money replacing damaged plants for us“.

Platform 1 bed, extended and with a new kerb

Detail of platform 1’s end bed with hebes and ornamental grasses

Platform 2 bed, restocked by the Buckingham team

Walkden “in bloom” again !

Friends of Walkden Station have installed a new set of planters on the recently extended platform, thanks to an “In Bloom” grant from Salford City Council.
The four new stainless steel planters have been evenly spaced between the lamp-posts at the eastern end of the island platform.
In the same style as the planters installed in 2008, the new arrivals have been filled with bamboos and hebes.
In addition to the new planters, FOWS volunteers also weeded the flower beds and planted some annuals to bring a dash of colour to the station over winter.
FOWS want to thank the following local organisations for the generous support and assistance which made the project possible:

• Salford City Council for funding the project
• Linnyshaw Garden Centre for delivering the plants free of charge
• J. Hughes for manufacturing the planters and arranging a special Sunday delivery free of charge
• FRECCLES (Friends of Eccles Station) for the loan of a trolley and stair-climber

Gardens get a tidy up

FOWS volunteers have been busy at the station today weeding and dead-heading the summer growth that has gone over.

A special thank you to Tracy Jacobs of Salford’s Neighbourhood Team who donated some hollies and pyrocanthus from her own garden – many thanks Tracy 🙂

Northern Rail have recently re-painted the station too, so it’s far to say the place is looking better than ever in modern times.

The hostas have done particularly well with this summer’s damp weather.

Weeded and boasting hollies and pyrocanthus donated by Tracy.

The sunflowers are here !

Sunflowers at Walkden station in 2010

Friends of Walkden Station’s resident sunflower fan Peter Hope has kindly donated a dozen sunflowers again this year, and  volunteers have been busy planting them up at the station this morning.

Here’s a little reminder from August 2010 of what we have to look forward to again – it’s becoming something of an annual summer treat for passengers travelling through Walkden !