The Huron Expositor, 1979-05-03, Page 10THE HURON EXPOSITOR: MAY 3, 1979
Alice Gib
A
memorabli
• Every now .apd then when you:re travelling. you happen
on one spot that lingers in your memory long after your
vacation ends, It's the place you pot to return to, the spot
which mere postcards, pietores ,er photographs an never
quite capture.
In the four. months I spent travelling in Britain and
Europe, Pricer those mate places was Laugharne, VVale,s,
a village on the edge, of the Cannarthenshire dairy lands.
the kind of sleepy Welsh Seaside IOWA that is usually
visited only now and then by a tourist on his way to
somewhere else. But in recent years, Laugharne has been
nicknamed the "Stratforti-on-AYon. of Wales"' and each
year, more and more visitors are making a 'pilgrimage to
the town. Thaakfully, even the tourists haven't been able
to disturb, it'S peaceful beauty.
The reason for Lauoharne's notoriety. beside its ruined
Nerman castle and the graceful seabirds that nest along:
the shore, is that off and on for IS years it Was the hom e
of Walesmost celehrated bard the fiery poet Dylan
Thomas. wile wrote —Do Net Go Gentle Into That Good
Night." •
Getting to Laugharne isn't the, simplest task in, the
world, First, we discovered. the native Welshmen :speak
with a lilt we didn't possess they cOuldn't Understand ,%, oerut,
pronunciation of Laugharne and Vc'e assume d they
talking, about an entirely . different village when they
pronounced the word. But, after several false starts, we
found we could'take a bus from the city of Swansea to the
smaller market team of Carmarthenshire and change there
The roads, through the rolling farmlands of southwest
'Woks, were narrow and twisting and the countryside -vas a
brilliant green, a green created by the mist and rains that
are a common occurrence in this part of the :country.
Dylan Thomas used to tell people that he got off the bus
one day in Laugharne and "just forgot to get back on
agaio7" Although this wasn't completely true,. something
about the town. with its, Georgian architecture, captiired
the poet's fancy and he returned again and again, finally
settling here for the remainder of his life.
When Dylan Thomas first discoverd'-taugharne. the
village boasted a population of about 400 souls. including
Many who spoke with a broad English accent despite the
'fact, they were born and raised in the heart of Wales; a
ruined castle believed to have been built by Rhys ap
Gruffydd, last of the princes of South Wales, and seen
charming pubs, perhaps the major consideration for a
drinking man like Thomas.
COCKLE GATHERERS
Other charms of the village which lured the poet to stay
were the rth century town hall, the cockle factory where,
,the cockle gatherers brought their daily catch and the
oarrms .winding JAWS that led on to the :nearby
countryside.•
The s trange town fascinated Thomas and he was to hve
there for longer than he had settled anywhere. often,
Unhappy attd, usually poor. but always fascinated by the
characters he met in the tOwn's pubs, by the sea birds
which scoured the shore when the tide went out and by the
privacy offered by neighbours Whodidn't really know or
eare that they had a poet in their midst.
•
When We explored Laugharne, forty .years after the
poet's first visitwe found the town relatively unchanged.
The' narrow streets are still bordered by two storey white
Georgian houses; Brown's Hotel, where Thomas was
known to raise Many a pint and the other pubs where he
,raised the occasional pint still attract the local characters
and the castle ruinsnow under the control of the Ministry
• of the Environment. are still the town's most obvious and
Most historical landmark, The cockle gatherers are gone,
and today there's no visible industry in the town. It's easy
:to see why Thomas once called Old, lost Lairgharne the
place where "'some people start to retire before they start
to Werk."
The reason most tourists make the journey toLaugharne
is to visit Thomasfinal home in the village. The house,
knOWn locally as the Boat House, is a plain, two -storeyed
furnished fisherman's cottage on the estuary of the River
Taf,For almost 20 year's after the poet's early death, the
house sat empty and neglected, but a few years •ago
Thomas' widew Caitlin agreed to sell the cottage to the
FfyPone House School Trust to be opened as a memorial to
one of Wales' most famous sens,
Although. tourists like ourselves tend to view the
restored cottage and its shoreline setting in a romantic
light today, the poet's family found it darim•and crowded
.and Thomas once warned a prospective 'guest to expect a
house that was "pokey and ugly." • ' •
• Later, like all romantics, the poet himself relented and
described the boat house as "my sea -shaken house on a
breakneck of rocks" for when 'the tide rolls into the
estuary, water still laps at the garden wall.
Visitors: can reach the cottagelike we did, wandering
along the shore where you can catch glimpses of sea birds
like stately blue herons or curlews or along a tree land
• road: known appropriately as the Cliff Lane.
DYLAN'S DEN
The Boat Hoose provided living quarters foe the :family
but not quiet for the writir, So Thomas 'retreated to a
Small. one -roomed blue karcle0 shed, PYI4WA, Denm up
'the path from the cottage.
Here Thomas shaped and re shaped his poems and
.• drafted his famous play for voiceslater titled Under
Milk Wogd which is largely modelled on the people and
places efLaogharne.
Today, the den is untouched. A Slipper sits under the
plain wooden table where the writer, wrote in longhand; a
tinY Feat grate Still sits in one corner and the walls are
hung with pictures of the writers Thomas most admired.
From his window, Thomas looked out over the estuary of
the river to the rolling hMs of Carmarthenshire. Today,
standing outside Dylan's Den, visitors have the uncanny
feeling that they'll hear the writer calling out to, them at
any moment for disturbing his work. In 1953, in debt as alwaYs. Thomas set off on his fourth
reading tour of America, ready to launch what would be
the final version of his play Under Milk Wood. The trip
was short and a combination of drink, drugs, and
pneumonia claimed the poet two weeks after his arrival in
New York. •
His body was brought back to Laugharne and today a
simple white cross, almost lost -among the larger
gravestones, marks the poet's burial place in St. Martin's
churchyard,
Caitlin Thomas, lost without her fiery, perplexing
husband, closed the Boat House immediately and moved
• her family to Italy where she has lived ever since.
Today, the people of the village have made few
concessions to the visitors who haunt their towo3,, for
souvenirs of ThoMas. One local store stocks the poet', s
books and records and occasionally, for the benefit of
tourists, the natives will argue which pub was Thomas'.
regular stop.
When you tell them you'r. visiting Laugharne to see the
Thomas home, they simply- smile knowingly and go on
about their on strange business" accepting the follies
of others just as tolerably as when Dyland Thomas lived in
the town,
Laugharne, even without the fact it once housed a very
famous poet, remains a magic place combining the sea and
the coontryside, cobblestoned streets with shady country
lanes and a peaceful atmosphere which makes the visitor
want to linger in the town forever. One Can't help hoping
the village will stay "lost" from the pace of much of the
rest of the world for Jost a little longer.
Cable to iniprolt.q. service, -rates up
Jack Ward of Mitchell
Cable TV, has applied to the
THE BUYERS These are soneof the people who rummaged' for
bargains at the St. Thomas, Anglican Church rummage' sale on Saturday.
(Expositor Photo).
Lions
fothily-10.W:-.
Seaforth Lions listened to a
discussion concerning
changes in Family Law when:
Ralph Smith spoke to the
club Monday evening.
• Mr. Smith. of Egmondville
who graduated recently in
law presently is articling with
the firm of McConnell,
Stewart and Devereaux in
Reporting on the recent
District Convention last week
in Port Elgin club president
Gord Rirnmer` told members
the clubs entry in the scrap
book contest had won top
• honours. •
Remember! It takes but a
moment to place an Ex
positor Want Ad. Dial
• 524-0240.
CRTC for, approval to install from Stratford to local cable urban centre.
a microwave feed' system TV subscribers.
If the CRTC approves the
move at the meeting in Hull.
Quebec on June 19 the
microwave' system would town hall on May 15 at 8 p.m.
allow local subscribers to He said any questions the
receive channels 2.4, and 7 public might have will be
from Buffalo and channel 79 answered at that time.
or CITY TV,, Toronto. People can also examine the
Mr. Ward said the earliest financial statements of
possdb
i eeeu, time themicrowavense itaedif wish.
. itc hC
ell able TV if th cy,
system
the CRTC approves the idea Mr. Ward said if the
...is .effective leadership:"
- Moira Couper, Ed Broadbent NDP
Bayfield 565-2522' Exeter 229-6223 Seaforth 527-1860
Clinton 482-3208 Goderich 524-2756 • -Wingham 357-1594
•
(Authorized by official agent of Moria Couper, N 0 P sayneld)
••IMPORTANT PUBLIC MEETING
•••
HURSPAY,-
30 p.m. Sharp
•4t -the . . •
MITCHELL
TOWN 'HALL:. • •...•
Liberal Candidate David Bradshaw
will be dealing with the issues In the
upcoming Federal Election. Any
person 'wishing to get up and speak
to any issue or question will be
invited to do so, at this meeting. We
are going to hive one of the best
Political Meetings held in Mitchell
for a long time.
''Don't worry Bradshaw Will make no long
boring speech
• TELLS IT THE WAY IT IS I !
We Aft erpeeting a large crowd so
,
COrt.' :nadir far' a good seat. .
EVERYBODY WELCOME
"SEE YOU IN MITCHELL"
iFedetplii —LI
_.:0001,0imm sy tote WON tOutritYriiiitospootm. ASSOCIATION
A
Blyth Centre for the Arts
Presents a
SPRING FESTIVAL
• '.of Antiques 'and Crafts
featuring, 50 of 'Ontario's finest artisans s •
and antique dealers • ' •
SAT. MAY 19
• ,
1 0 - 5 pm •
Blyth Community centre
Admission 50c
Special Advance tickets
now available •
Also featuring Huron County's
largest annual book sale •
• CONCERNED
CITIZENS
INVITE. illifTO A
• PIIIIIIC MEETING
ADDRESSED BY
KEN CAMPBELL
at CENTRAL HURON
SECONDARY SCHOOL
• Thurs MAY 3rd
CLINTON 8.00pm
SEX -
SCHOOL
TEXTS?
FOUNDER OF
RENAISSANCE CANADA
Kin' C1670141
.�f
TV '10AkiE
Mr. Ward is inviting any
cable subscribers in the local
arca to meet with him over a
cup of coffee at the Seaforth
' wciulcl be in the 'fall. microwave system • is
He said the cost Of approved by the CRTC, then
installing • the micriawave. "We Should have one of the
•system and, purchasing a • hest small cable TV systems
character generator which in Canada." '
will improve the appearance --,
of announcements on the
local cable channel will be
$90
000 , Every week more and
Cable rates to subscribers more people discover what
will be increasing 51 per mighty jobs are ac-
• month on first outlets arid if complished by low cost
is .0
improved, there will be a 52 Dial 5.27 0
.
per month increase on first
outlets.
In d financial statement
drawn up by Mr. Ward,
which is on file at Seaforth
town hall. Mitchell Cable TV
shows a net loss of
.55,489 in 1978.
• Mr, Ward said he has asked
the CRTC not to approve
the microwave feed system
unless they also approve the
32 rate increase. He said for
he number of potential
subscribers (2,000) in the
area, it wouldn't be
economically feasible . to
spend 590,000 unless the full
52 cable rental fee is •also
approved. •
Mr. Ward. added that
subscribers in a small area
arc going to have to pay more
for the microwave service
than larger centres such as
London. He said smaller
cable Systems must put in
the same kind of mitrowave
equipment as they would if
they were servicing a large
the microwave feed
Huron Expositor24Want Ads.
THE SALESMAN— Larry Teatero was one of
the salesmen at St, Thomas Anglican Church
rummage sale on Saturday afternoon.•
(Expositor Photo)
BTOWN SABRES
BROOMBALL TEAM
present*:
with the •
ED SELL REVUE
FRIDAY, MAY 18
9:00 to 1 p,m.
SEAFORTH & DISTRICT COMMUNITY CENTRE
(on Main Floor)
For tickets call: 345.1447 • 145-2787 • 187-6796
'4.00 per person
Held under the authority of Special Occasions Permit
Ho y there's a better way..
consider yourself one of us.
Open a V&G Chequing r Saving § Account, We believe our services
are the best: Savings Account -- 91/2 % interest, Chequing
Account 40/ interest plus free cheques and much more.
Come in and ask us about them, it's a prime you don't know..
vyr vicrotuA
AlND'GREY
TRUSE
Since #44
Chequing or Savings Accounts
Mernbeh trehischt, Deposit theurante Coipagetion