Kells is an area of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England, elevated on a cliff to the south of the town centre, overlooking the Irish sea. Kells was built as a coal mining community.
A cable railway, the Corkickle Brake, was opened in 1881 to connect the pits at the top of the steep incline to the railway line in Whitehaven town below. As the pits closed, the Corkickle Brake was abandoned in 1932. It was re-opened in 1955 to serve the Marchon chemical works (later a division of Albright and Wilson) in Kells. When the Brake was again closed in 1986, it was the last standard gauge cable railway operating in the UK.[1]
With the change from phosphate based detergents the Marchon works was the victim of a gradual winding down process and finally closed in 2006.
Kells Amateur Rugby League Football Club was first formed in 1931, and now plays in the Cumberland League.[2]