Laugharne – Carmarthenshire – Wales – UK – July 2017

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Carmarthenshire, Dylan Thomas, family, Laugharne, River Taf, UK, Wales

Visiting family in a Welsh village!

Laugharne (pronounced Larne) is a beautiful town on the estuary of the River Tâf and the home of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas from 1949 until his death in 1953.   But even more important to me – it’s the home of my beautiful Auntie Anne and her lovely husband Bill and my gorgeous cousin Simon and his family.  These are family that my brother has not seen for over forty-five years and my nephew has never met. So whilst in Wales we caught the train to Carmarthen where we were picked up and driven to Laugharne to spent the weekend.  And what a fabulous weekend…

Our Aunt booked us into accommodation above the New Three Mariners pub which was delightful.  When we arrived there was a large group of young girls celebrating impending nuptials…and clearly the had been there for some time before we saw them; the bride to be in a furry pink pig outfit (no idea why)!I have been back to Wales twice since we emigrated to Australia in 1971 and have visited  Laugharne once.  It was all new to my brother and nephew and they loved it.  Laugharne is such a beautiful place with small streets with lovely colourful homes.Our English cousins came in from different parts of the country and along with our Welsh cousins and family from Laugharne we had a huge dinner at our Aunt’s new home – what a fun night with so many laughs and childhood memories…great for my brother and nephew to hear these stories.

I went for a walk through Laugharne the next morning; along the tiny winding roads…along a pathway through the forest…where I saw the tiny garage that was converted into a study by Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas.  The Boathouse where Dylan lived was closed as I was there too early in the morning.Along pathways with stunning views of Laugharne and its vibrant green grasslands.And beautiful views of the river and colourful plots of land across the water.

And back up to the main street past the tiny cemetary to have breakfast with some of our cousins and their families.  We then took a look inside this lovely little trinket shop owned by a Welsh lady with the strongest Welsh accent; people in this town were so pleasant especially when they knew why we were visiting.  I bought a lovely copy of Dylan Thomas’ ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’.  Laugharne, like our home town of Swansea, has the remains of an old castle so we stopped by for a couple of photos.We were going to take the train back to Swansea but Simon our youngest cousin offered to drive us; a lovely offer and wonderful way to chat to him for an extra hour and for him to get to know my brother a bit better – very special!A great visit with family!!  And an opportunity for my nephew to pretend to take a call on his dad’s mobile phone in a lovely red phone box.