The Dylan Thomas Trail | |
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Location | Ceredigion 52°16′54″N4°10′38″W / 52.2818°N 4.1772°W |
Use | Walking |
The Dylan Thomas Trail (Welsh : Llwybr Dylan Thomas) runs through places associated with the poet Dylan Thomas in Ceredigion, west Wales. It was officially opened by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan's daughter, in July 2003. It also featured in the celebration in 2014 of the centenary of Dylan's birth. [1]
The Trail is marked by blue plaques and information boards in Lampeter, Aberaeron and New Quay. There is also a detailed guide available, The Dylan Thomas Trail, [2] which helps visitors walk the route but also describes the poet's time in the area.
The Trail begins on the coast at the Central Hotel in Llanon, then meanders through upland countryside to Plas Gelli, Tal-sarn, the mansion where Dylan and Caitlin lived for part of World War II. [3] It then turns west to wander along the beautiful Aeron valley. The walk passes Tyglyn Aeron (now a hotel) which was the summer home of the publisher, Geoffrey Faber, where T. S. Eliot spent his holidays in the 1930s. [4]
The Trail continues past the National Trust's Llanerchaeron estate and then along a disused railway line [5] to Aberaeron, where Dylan had a number of friends, including Thomas Herbert the vet and Dewi Ianthe, the battery man. [6] From here, the Trail follows the cliffs to New Quay, passing close to Plas Llanina, where Dylan, “hoofed with seaweed, did a jig on the Llanina sands and barked at the far mackerel.” [7] Under the waves lies a drowned cemetery which has been described as “the literal truth that inspired the imaginative and poetic truth” of Under Milk Wood. [8] Plas Llanina was once the home of Lord Howard de Walden, who encouraged Dylan to write in the apple house in the garden. [9]
Next comes Majoda, where Dylan and family lived from September 1944 to July 1945. [10] It's a modern bungalow today but when Dylan lived there it was a primitive wood and asbestos shack with no inside facilities. [11] They were there during one of the coldest winters on record. But despite the weather, it was one of the most productive periods of Dylan's life, “a second flowering, a period of fertility that recalls the earliest days.” His Majoda poems were “among the finest that he wrote...they provided nearly half the poems for Deaths and Entrances.” [12] And it was here in Majoda that Dylan started writing Under Milk Wood, [13] as well as the poem Fern Hill. [14]
The Trail then follows the beach, before it arrives in New Quay, its finishing point. There are further day walks on extensions of the Trail, including Eli Jenkins' Pub Walk which follows the River Dewi (the name of the river in Under Milk Wood) to the coast at Cwmtydu. Another walk is the town trail [15] around New Quay, taking in the house where his aunt and cousins lived, [16] as well as Dylan's favourite pub, the Black Lion, where Augustus John used to exhibit. Caitlin preferred the Dolau pub, as did Alastair Graham, [17] who had once been Evelyn Waugh's lover.
A companion book is available for those walking the Trail who want to know more about Dylan's time in west Wales. [18] It contains an account of the shooting incident at Majoda whilst Dylan lived there in 1945. A collection of published articles is also available, [19] as well as a photographic history of New Quay [20] and an account of New Quay's maritime profile as seen through the 1939 War Register. [21]
The coastal stretch of the Trail forms part of the Wales Coast Path and the Ceredigion Coast Path, and is included in a number of the Path's walking guides. [22] Dylan ardents can follow the coast path from New Quay to Llangrannog, where Dylan enjoyed meeting up in the Pentre Arms with World War I, flying ace, Ira Jones. [23] The coast path then continues southwards, passing Yr Hendre farm, near St. Dogmaels, where the sixteen-year old Dylan camped with a school friend in 1930. The holiday is described in the Trail guide.
The Dylan Thomas Trail is established on various walking and cycling websites, [24] and has appeared in tourism guides. [25] It also heads the Wales Online list of 100 things to do in Ceredigion before you die. [26] It has received national media coverage, [27] as well as more academic consideration. [28]
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely popular in his lifetime; and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet". Dylan Marlais Thomas was the son of David John Thomas, a school master, and Florence Hannah Williams who married in 1903 and were living in Sketty Avenue, Sketty, Swansea when the 1911 Census was taken. Their daughter Nancy, born 1906, was not at home with them on Census Day.
"Fern Hill" (1945) is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in Horizon magazine in October 1945, with its first book publication in 1946 as the last poem in Deaths and Entrances.
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a 186-mile (299 km) long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of ascent and descent. At its highest point – Pen yr afr, on Cemaes Head – it reaches a height of 574 feet (175 m), and at its lowest point – Sandy Haven crossing, near Milford Haven – it is just 6 feet (2 m) above low water. Whilst most of the coastline faces west, it offers – at varying points – coastal views in every direction of the compass.
Ceredigion ( ), historically Cardiganshire, is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Aberystwyth is the largest settlement and, together with Aberaeron, is an administrative centre of Ceredigion County Council.
Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The BBC commissioned the play, which was later adapted for the stage. The first public reading was in New York City in 1953.
Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. Located on the coast between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, its resident population was 1,274 in the 2021 census.
Lampeter is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and Cardigan, and has a campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. At the 2011 Census, the population was 2,970. Lampeter is the smallest university town in the United Kingdom. The university adds approximately 1,000 people to the town's population during term time.
New Quay is a seaside town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located 19 miles (31 km) south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town lies on the Ceredigion Coast Path and the Wales Coast Path. It remains a popular seaside resort and traditional fishing town, with strong family and literary associations with the poet Dylan Thomas and his play, Under Milk Wood.
Llangrannog is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, 6 miles (10 km) southwest of New Quay. It lies in the narrow valley of the River Hawen, which falls as a waterfall near the middle of the village. Llangrannog is on the Wales Coast Path.
The River Aeron is a small river in Ceredigion, Wales, that flows into Cardigan Bay at Aberaeron. It is also referred to on some older maps as the River Ayron.
Ystrad Aeron is a small village west of Felinfach on the A482 between Lampeter and Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. It is part of the constituent community of Llanfihangel Ystrad.
Aeronwy Bryn Thomas-Ellis was a poet, writer and translator of Italian poetry. She was the second child and only daughter of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife, Caitlin Macnamara.
The Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line was originally a standard-gauge branch line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in Wales, connecting Carmarthen and Aberystwyth.
Dylan Marlais Thomas (1914–1953) was a Welsh poet and writer who — along with his work — has been remembered and referred to by a number of artists in various media.
The Ceredigion Coast Path is a waymarked long distance footpath in the United Kingdom, on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales. It is 65 miles (105 km) in length, running along the coast of Cardigan Bay from Cardigan (52.0810°N 4.6608°W) to Ynyslas (52.5271°N 4.0495°W).
Ciliau Aeron is a community and small village 4 miles from Aberaeron in Ceredigion, Wales on the left bank of the River Aeron. The community includes the village of Cilcennin.
David N. Thomas is a British writer.
The Wales Coast Path is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales.
Talsarn Halt was a small railway station in a very rural location on the Aberayron branch of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth Line in the Welsh county of Ceredigion. Opened by the Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway, the branch to Aberayron diverged from the through line at Lampeter.
Talsarn is a hamlet in the community of Nantcwnlle, Ceredigion, Wales. It lies some 16 miles (26 km) south of Aberystwyth, 64 miles (103 km) north-west of Cardiff, and 178 miles (286 km) from London. It is situated almost half-way between the towns of Lampeter and Aberaeron on the Ceredigion coast. The River Aeron passes close to Talsarn as it makes its way to the sea at Aberaeron.