"Walking in the footsteps of Dylan Thomas round the historic township of Laugharne"
Walk directions
From the car park, follow a tarmac track away from the castle. Just before the water treatment works, bear right on to a gravel path (‘Dylan’s Birthday Walk’). Climb steeply through woodland to a path junction by a bench and information board. Take the left-hand fork and descend steeply to a gravel track along the edge of salt marsh.
Continue ahead and follow the waymarked track around Salt House Farm. After crossing a cattle grid, look out for a waymark post to the right of the track. Turn right and climb a grassy bank to a stile into woods. Follow a narrow but clear woodland path steeply uphill.
Cross a stile at the top edge of the trees and another, immediately to the right. Turn left, along the edge of the field, then drop straight down the middle of a second field to a stone stile opposite a caravan park. Cross the A4066 and follow the grass verge to the right.
Turn left on to a minor road signed to Llansadurnen. At a lay-by, bear right to a stile into a field and follow the bottom edge to a stile at its end. Do not cross, but bear left towards a waymark post by a hedge corner. Follow the hedge to the right and join a grassy sunken track.
Go through a gate and continue down a stony track to a house. Keep ahead along the drive and down a tarmac lane to a junction. Turn right towards the edge of Laugharne, bearing left on to a smaller road by a triangle of grass. At a sharp right-hand bend, bear left on to a narrow, dead-end street (‘Holloway Road’).
Keep ahead on to a clear path, crossing two fields to a junction with Horsepool Lane. Turn right and then right again, along Laugharne’s main street. Cross to the lych gate into St Martin’s Church and climb to a kissing gate in the top left-hand corner of the churchyard (cross the footbridge on the right to visit Dylan Thomas’s grave).
Turn left on to a lane. Climb to a junction and turn right, joining the descending farm track to Delacorse. Follow waymarks past the house and into a field. A clear path continues along the bottom edge of fields, just above the River Taf. Pass through a kissing gate and join a gravel path through woodland.
Emerge on a lane and follow it past the Dylan Thomas Boathouse and writing shed. Turn left at a junction and then left again. In front of Coach House, turn left into a narrow alley and descend to a track below Laugharne Castle. Bear right to return to the car park.
The quirky little town of Laugharne has found fame the world over for its association with the poet Dylan Thomas. Dylan lived in Laugharne for a total of seven years – between 1938 and 1941 and then from 1949 to his death in 1953 – but always regarded the town as a kind of spiritual home. There is... no doubt that he revelled in the town’s reputation for eccentricity, exaggerating its peculiarities in the fictional Llareggub (‘bugger-all’ backwards) of Under Milk Wood. A different kind of influence, more melancholic and introspective, is evident in later poems such as ‘Poem in October’, ‘Poem on his Birthday’ and the elegiac ‘Over Sir John’s Hill’ – all imbued with the town’s distinctive atmosphere and landscape. One of Thomas’s favourite Laugharne walks was a path across a steep, wooded shoulder of Sir John’s Hill, high above the Taf Estuary. Known locally as the ‘New Walk’, the path provided access to valuable cockle beds on the mudflats near Salt House Farm, but it was its scenic qualities that Dylan appreciated. A journey along the path is the inspiring conceit behind ‘Poem in October’, which describes an ascent of Sir John’s Hill on the poet’s ‘thirtieth year to heaven’. Later in the walk, you will pass St Martin’s Church, where Dylan and his wife Caitlin are buried in the new cemetery, and the Boathouse, Dylan’s home for his final four years. The Boathouse, described in ‘Poem on his Birthday’ as ‘his house on stilts’, is a museum dedicated to the writer’s life and work, and nearby is his writing shed where several great works were penned. There are great views across the tidal estuary. But there is more to Laugharne than Dylan Thomas. At the centre of the town’s distinct identity is its unique corporation – the only medieval corporation still in existence in the UK. Founded in 1291 by local Norman lord Guy de Brian, the corporation invested its burgesses (who were mainly English) with a range of special privileges to ensure their loyalty against the Welsh. As a result, Laugharne has remained a predominantly English speaking town. Today, the corporation maintains some of Laugharne’s more colourful traditions. These include the Laugharne Common Walk, which occurs every three years on Whit Monday. Led by the Portreeve (the leader of the corporation, appointed annually), this all-day walk is a variation on the medieval tradition of ‘beating the bounds’, retracing and thereby reaffirming the town’s ancient boundaries.
Carmarthenshire is the largest of the historic counties of Wales, and known to have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Carmarthen, its county town, with its Roman fort, claims to be the oldest town in Wales.
"Walking in the footsteps of Dylan Thomas round the historic township of Laugharne"
Walk details
2hrs 30min
Difficulty:
Easy
Gradient:
Gentle
Distance:
5.5 miles (8.8kms)
Ascent:
900ft (270m)
Walk directions
From the car park, follow a tarmac track away from the castle. Just before the water treatment works, bear right on to a gravel path (‘Dylan’s Birthday Walk’). Climb steeply through woodland to a path junction by a bench and information board. Take the left-hand fork and descend steeply to a gravel track along the edge of salt marsh.
1 of 8
Continue ahead and follow the waymarked track around Salt House Farm. After crossing a cattle grid, look out for a waymark post to the right of the track. Turn right and climb a grassy bank to a stile into woods. Follow a narrow but clear woodland path steeply uphill.
2 of 8
Cross a stile at the top edge of the trees and another, immediately to the right. Turn left, along the edge of the field, then drop straight down the middle of a second field to a stone stile opposite a caravan park. Cross the A4066 and follow the grass verge to the right.
3 of 8
Turn left on to a minor road signed to Llansadurnen. At a lay-by, bear right to a stile into a field and follow the bottom edge to a stile at its end. Do not cross, but bear left towards a waymark post by a hedge corner. Follow the hedge to the right and join a grassy sunken track.
4 of 8
Go through a gate and continue down a stony track to a house. Keep ahead along the drive and down a tarmac lane to a junction. Turn right towards the edge of Laugharne, bearing left on to a smaller road by a triangle of grass. At a sharp right-hand bend, bear left on to a narrow, dead-end street (‘Holloway Road’).
5 of 8
Keep ahead on to a clear path, crossing two fields to a junction with Horsepool Lane. Turn right and then right again, along Laugharne’s main street. Cross to the lych gate into St Martin’s Church and climb to a kissing gate in the top left-hand corner of the churchyard (cross the footbridge on the right to visit Dylan Thomas’s grave).
6 of 8
Turn left on to a lane. Climb to a junction and turn right, joining the descending farm track to Delacorse. Follow waymarks past the house and into a field. A clear path continues along the bottom edge of fields, just above the River Taf. Pass through a kissing gate and join a gravel path through woodland.
7 of 8
Emerge on a lane and follow it past the Dylan Thomas Boathouse and writing shed. Turn left at a junction and then left again. In front of Coach House, turn left into a narrow alley and descend to a track below Laugharne Castle. Bear right to return to the car park.
The quirky little town of Laugharne has found fame the world over for its association with the poet Dylan Thomas. Dylan lived in Laugharne for a total of seven years – between 1938 and 1941 and then from 1949 to his death in 1953 – but always regarded the town as a kind of spiritual home. There is... no doubt that he revelled in the town’s reputation for eccentricity, exaggerating its peculiarities in the fictional Llareggub (‘bugger-all’ backwards) of Under Milk Wood. A different kind of influence, more melancholic and introspective, is evident in later poems such as ‘Poem in October’, ‘Poem on his Birthday’ and the elegiac ‘Over Sir John’s Hill’ – all imbued with the town’s distinctive atmosphere and landscape. One of Thomas’s favourite Laugharne walks was a path across a steep, wooded shoulder of Sir John’s Hill, high above the Taf Estuary. Known locally as the ‘New Walk’, the path provided access to valuable cockle beds on the mudflats near Salt House Farm, but it was its scenic qualities that Dylan appreciated. A journey along the path is the inspiring conceit behind ‘Poem in October’, which describes an ascent of Sir John’s Hill on the poet’s ‘thirtieth year to heaven’. Later in the walk, you will pass St Martin’s Church, where Dylan and his wife Caitlin are buried in the new cemetery, and the Boathouse, Dylan’s home for his final four years. The Boathouse, described in ‘Poem on his Birthday’ as ‘his house on stilts’, is a museum dedicated to the writer’s life and work, and nearby is his writing shed where several great works were penned. There are great views across the tidal estuary. But there is more to Laugharne than Dylan Thomas. At the centre of the town’s distinct identity is its unique corporation – the only medieval corporation still in existence in the UK. Founded in 1291 by local Norman lord Guy de Brian, the corporation invested its burgesses (who were mainly English) with a range of special privileges to ensure their loyalty against the Welsh. As a result, Laugharne has remained a predominantly English speaking town. Today, the corporation maintains some of Laugharne’s more colourful traditions. These include the Laugharne Common Walk, which occurs every three years on Whit Monday. Led by the Portreeve (the leader of the corporation, appointed annually), this all-day walk is a variation on the medieval tradition of ‘beating the bounds’, retracing and thereby reaffirming the town’s ancient boundaries.
Carmarthenshire is the largest of the historic counties of Wales, and known to have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Carmarthen, its county town, with its Roman fort, claims to be the oldest town in Wales.
