Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire,[5] Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture.

[9] 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".

[10] In the 15th century Walkden appears to have covered a wider area than at present, spreading into Farnworth and Little Hulton.

[14] 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.

[13] Walkden Yard or NCB Central Workshops was situated south of High Street, close to Ellesmere Colliery was partly in Little Hulton.

[19] Following the July 2024 General Election, the Bolton South and Walkden constituency is represented by Yasmin Qureshi MP in UK Parliament.

[24] The formerly derelict and badly polluted site at Blackleach was next to a chemical waste tip, and was crossed by a disused railway line.

[25] A one tonne glacial erratic limestone boulder can be found in Parr Fold Park, indicated by an information sign.

[27] A small, gated angling pond can be found next to the Walkden Town Centre car park and can only be accessed by members.

[30] Parr Fold Park has a cenotaph memorial, which is the site of Walkden's annual war Remembrance Day services.

[31] 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.

[32] The opening line of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), referring to the clocks striking thirteen, might have been inspired by his time in the area writing The Road to Wigan Pier (1937).

Following local campaigning by residents,[39] 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.

[40] Plans for the redevelopment of the centre were officially granted consent by Salford City Council in June 2024, with work due to start in the same year.

[44] The RHS1 bus route links Manchester City Centre, Walkden Station and the RHS Garden Bridgewater between 1 April and 1 October each year.

In 1875, the London and North Western Railway opened a station on the Bolton-to-Eccles line known as Walkden Low Level.

[53] Currently, the Manchester - Southport line passing through Walkden is not electrified, meaning trains use diesel as fuel.

[54] 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.

[citation needed] Walkden has been named as a possible beneficiary of TfGM's Bee Network Metrolink extension works.

It has also been suggested that tram-trains could run from Manchester Victoria to Wigan on the Manchester-Southport Line, leaving the conventional rail tracks and onto tramways from Atherton.

[58] An additional proposal is using the Tyldesley Loopline, to run the Metrolink from its current terminus in Eccles towards Little Hulton, stopping in Walkden.

[60] In February 2024, an Ofsted inspection at The Lowry Academy also resulted in a 'Good' rating, noting that the school had undergone a “positive transformation”.

The foundation stone for St. Paul's at Walkden Moor was laid in 1847 by Lady Brackley, daughter of the Earl of Ellesmere.

[68] 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.

[69] Walkden is known to have produced multiple actors and actresses who feature in the British soap opera Coronation Street, which is set in Salford.