Dylan Thomas Trail

Our self catering holiday cottage are an ideal base from which to do the ‘Dylan Thomas Country’ and explore the places which are associated with Dylan Thomas and inspired many of his works, such as ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’, ‘Fern Hill’ and ‘Under Milk Wood’.

Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea Uplands
Dylan Marlais Thomas was born in 1914 suburban Swansea, some twelve miles from our holiday cottages at Plas Farm. The house where he lived and Cwmdonkin Park, his childhood playground, have changed very little since Dylan’s time. Cwmdonkin Park is referred to in several of Dylan’s writings. There are the “miniature woods and jungles” where he played cowboys and indians and there is a drinking fountain where he played with his toy boat. As a memorial to Dylan, a passage from Fern Hill is inscribed on a stone in the water garden: “Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means time held me green and dying though I sang in my chains like the sea.” The poem hangs in the bathroom of Hafod Y Wennol farm holiday cottage.

The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea
The Dylan Thomas Centre is located in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter and contains a permanent exhibition, “I in my Intricate Image”, which focuses on the life and work of Dylan and there is a range of Dylan Thomas souvenirs and books on sale containing ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’, ‘Fern Hill’, ‘Under Milk Wood’ and many other Dylan Thomas poems. You can also enjoy a pint of Dylan’s ale!
Dylan’s Bookstore, Salubrious Passage, Swansea

In Salubrious Passage, a Dickensian covered alleyway in Swansea city centre, you can browse around the Dylan Thomas Bookshop which also displays a large variety of scripts and Dylan Thomas memorabilia.

Dylan Thomas Square, Swansea
Swansea City Centre is host to a number of Dylan Thomas attractions. Visit Dylan Thomas Square, where a bronze statue of the poet in characteristic pose may be found. Adjacent is the Dylan Thomas Theatre where productions of his work are performed from time to time. Swansea is also home of the BBC studios where Dylan made many of early radio broadcasts.

The Boat House, Laugharne
Dylan spent the last years of his life at Laugharne on the estuary of the River Taf in Carmarthen. His home, Dylan’s Boathouse, has now has been converted into an interesting museum of his life and work; it includes a tea room and an art gallery on the upper floor. The relationship that Dylan had with Laugharne is summed up in the following extract from one of his poems:

“And some, like myself, just came, one day, for the day, and never left; got off the bus, and forgot to get on again.”

Laugharne was where Dylan wrote some of his finest poems, such as ‘Poem on his birthday’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ and it was here too that he worked on Under Milk Wood.

So why not come and visit ‘Dylan Thomas Country’, home of one of the twentieth centuries greatest poets and enjoy luxury accommodation at Bwthyn Y Saer holiday cottage?