Hi Karen
I was actually born at 28a Thwaitville, Kells in 1962.
Number 21a will still be standing, as are most of the original houses. If I remember rightly, they were built as pre-fabricated huts for WW1, then used as miners cottages. Most of them have been modernised now, but if ever you visit it, I would advise not taking your car up there!! The residents have been trying for years to get the council to adopt the road and footpaths. I think it's the only road around here that has been left in such a state, and not taken over yet. They have a committee and have fund-raised to get some of the money together, but so far nothing has been done.
My dad built some new houses on Thwaiteville during the sixties. They even had their own shop (Delines) in a small bungalow at one end of the road. There were also two other shops at the bottom of the road opposite each other. None of them are there now.
Thwaiteville is located directly opposite the opening to Haig Pit. I remember the pit whistle going off for shift changes when I was little, and seeing all the miners standing in the enormous bus shelter, covered in coal-dust waiting for the bus home.
One of the shops, over the road from Thwaiteville was Basket House. I'm not sure if the baskets once made there were made for the pit, or for fishing. I'm sure somebody else might put me right about the pre-fab houses and the baskets. If you contacted the record office in Whitehaven, somebody there may be able to give you more information about Thwaiteville.
Rosemary
