Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
www.dylanthomasboathouse.com
; Dylan's Walk; adult/child £4.20/3.20; 10am-5.30pm May-Oct, 10.30am-3.30pm
Nov-Apr)
Except at high tide, you can follow a path along the shoreline below the castle,
then up some stairs to a lane that leads to the boathouse where the poet lived from 1949 to
1953 with his wife Caitlin and their three children. It's a beautiful setting, looking out
over the estuary with its 'heron-priested shore', silent except for the long, liquid call of the
curlew and the urgent 'pleep pleep pleep' of the oystercatcher, birds that appear in Tho-
mas' poetry of that time.
The parlour of the Boathouse has been restored to its 1950s appearance, with the desk
that once belonged to Thomas' schoolmaster father and recordings of the poet reading his
own works. Upstairs are photographs, manuscripts, a short video about his life, and his
death mask, which once belonged to Richard Burton; downstairs is a coffee shop.
Along the lane from the Boathouse is the old shed where Thomas did most of his writ-
ing. It looks as if he has just popped out, with screwed-up pieces of paper littered around,
a curiously prominent copy of
Lives of the Great Poisoners
and, facing out to sea, the
table where he wrote
Under Milk Wood
and poems such as
Over Sir John's Hill
(which
describes the view).
Laugharne Castle
(
www.cadw.wales.gov.uk
;
Laugharne; adult/child £3.20/2.80; 10am-5pm Apr-Oct)
Built in the 13th cen-
tury, Laugharne Castle was converted into a mansion in the 16th century for John Perrot,
thought to be the illegitimate son of Henry VIII. It was landscaped with lawns and gar-
dens in Victorian times, and the adjoining Castle House was leased by Richard Hughes,
author of
High Wind in Jamaica
. Hughes was a friend of Dylan Thomas, who sometimes
wrote in the little gazebo looking out over the estuary.
CASTLE
Festivals & Events
Laugharne Weekend
(s452743659.websitehome.co.uk)
This vibrant small-scale festival held in April concentrates on
music and writing by artists with a Welsh connection.
LITERATURE
Sleeping
Boat House
B&B
££
