Dylan Thomas visited New Quay frequently, and
lived here in 1944/1945. This was one the most prolific periods of his writing
career, not least because he enjoyed being so close to the sea, with good pubs
to hand The Dylan Thomas New Quay Trail takes you through some of the
places in the town associated with Dylan and with his most famous work, Under Milk Wood.
The beautiful countryside of Ceredigion was in
Dylan's blood - his great uncle, Gwilym Marles, had been a Unitarian minister
in the county, and a poet of some distinction as well
When Dylan was sixteen, he
stayed on a farm just outside Cardigan. During the 1930's he came to visit his
aunt and cousin in New Quay, and called on the writer Caradoc Evans in Aberystwyth.
For much of the war he led
a nomadic life, staying in a mansion at Tal-sarn, a hotel at Lampeter, a
cottage in Talgarreg, and a bungalow in New Quay (where the famed attempted
shooting took place).
Dylan Loved New Quay, and it provided the inspiration
for several of his best works. He and Caitlin lived in Majoda, on the
outskirts of the town. Dylan’s time there was amongst the most productive of
his life, "a second flowering, a period of fertility that recalls the
earliest days". There was a "great out pouring" of poems, as
well as film and radio scripts.