THE ENGLISH EYE IN WALES: DYLAN THOMAS BOAT HOUSE, LAUGHARNE

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS DAY, and for anyone interested in the culture of Wales, the last home of poet and writer Dylan Thomas is an intriguing 'must' on the list of places to see.

In May 1949 Thomas and his family moved to the Boat House just outside Laugharne, Wales, overlooking the River Taf estuary. He used a wooden garage (header pic, below) a few minutes walk away as his writing shed, and it was here that he created several acclaimed works.

As we found out on our visit, both buildings are now owned by the Carmarthenshire County Council and serve as a museum to Thomas. The Boat House itself (below) is open to the public, and has a fascinating collection of memorabilia. The drawing room is maintained as a period classic, while the basement has a cafe that serves excellent home-made food.

Dylan Thomas Dylan started writing early, his first poem being published in his school magazine. He worked across a wide range of media, including poetry, radio plays, short stories, films, and an unfinished novel.

His single best-known work has to be his play for voices, 'Under Milk Wood’, which starts like this:

"To begin at the beginning:

It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and- rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea. 

The houses are blind as moles (though moles see fine to-night in the snouting, velvet dingles) or blind as Captain Cat there in the muffled middle by the pump and the town clock, the shops in mourning, the Welfare Hall in widows' weeds. 

And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are sleeping now."

Wonderful stuff, as as is a visit to the Boat House and writing shed. Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, in Swansea, Wales. He died on November 9, 1953, in St Vincent's Hospital, New York. Click the video (below) to listen to 'Under Milk Wood.'



Dylan Thomas website here.

More about the Boat House here.