West Wales
Follow the trail through West Wales and up to Fernhill, which inspired Dylan Thomas to write the famous poem of the same name. The trail also takes you to Laugharne, where Dylan wrote ‘Under Milk Wood’.
‘(Swansea) was my world; outside a strange Wales, coal-pitted, mountained, river run, full…of choirs and football teams and sheep and story book tall black hats and red flannel petticoats…..that unknown Wales with its wild names like peals of bells in darkness, and its mountain men clothed in the skins of animals perhaps and always singing…..’
‘Reminiscences of Childhood’
This, the fourth and final guide in our series, takes us west from the city of Swansea, the place of Dylan’s birth, and out into rural and coastal Wales. This is a different Wales, ‘a strange Wales’, where Dylan’s ancestors lived, and where he escaped to find peace and refuge, to write and recuperate.
You can get to these places by train and bus but obviously a car would make things much easier as many of the places mentioned are off the main roads and away from the towns.
The trail will take you into areas of outstanding natural beauty and to small towns and villages of real charm and with a character all of their own. After you have visited the Dylan Thomas Centre and spent some time in the exhibition, this trip will flesh out many of the incidents and events presented there, give them a context and give you a deeper understanding of how important and influential the character and landscape of Wales was on the life and writings of Dylan Thomas.
This Trail is constructed as a loop beginning and ending in Carmarthen – a loop that circumnavigates West Wales. It would make a very full day’s outing or a comfortable two-day jaunt. By using Carmarthen as a base, sections could easily be enjoyed by public transport.
This post is also available in: Welsh
