Dylan Thomas' life in New Quay and shooting incident

Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea on October 27, 1914. He grew up in the then-town and became a reporter for the South Wales Daily Post at the age of 16.

He worked as a journalist for the paper for 18 months before becoming a freelance writer and working on his poetry.

He had been to New Quay on holiday as a teenager and had visited friends in Aberystwyth, so was familiar with the area from a young age.

His first visit was said to have been in the 1930s when he visited an aunt and cousin who had moved from Swansea.

As well as a poet, he was a keen actor, taking part in a number of productions across South Wales.

Dylan Thomas

He met future wife Caitlin in London in 1936 and the couple married a year later. They moved to Wales, living in Laugharne for a while and between 1941 and 1943, they lived in Plas Gelli in Talsarn, and shared a mansion with friends Vera and Evelyn Phillips.

It is here that he wrote poem Sooner Than You Can Water Milk, but in 1944 they – with young daughter Aeronwy - moved to Llangain after being concerned about the ongoing bombing from the Second World War. Thomas had avoided conscription due to a lung condition.

In September 1944, the family moved again, this time to New Quay.

They rented Majoda, a wood and asbestos bungalow on the cliffs overlooking Cardigan Bay. He spent nine months living in the town, with the radio piece Quite Early One Morning, and part of his later production – the famed Under Milk Wood – was written there.

It is believed that the inspiration for Under Milk Wood was the local characters around the town, with the aforementioned poem and radio piece foreshadowing Under Milk Wood and some parts being used in the play.

Professor Walford Davies provided a note about the inspiration for Under Milk Wood, saying that New Quay was “crucial in supplementing the gallery of characters Thomas had to hand for writing Under Milk Wood.”

He edited the definitive edition of the play in 1995. The play was set in a fictional place called Llareggub, with the drawings and descriptions being almost identical to New Quay.

There are a number of similarities between the two places, including the Downs, donkeys and a number of real-life people were the inspiration for the characters.

Thomas also began popular poem Fern Hill while in New Quay, although it was finished the following year in Blaencwm.

The Black Lion, New Quay

A number of biographers who have written about Thomas believed that his time in New Quay was a second-coming for him, with George Tremlett saying it was “one of the most creative periods of Thomas’ life,” despite the fact that he wrote around 200 poems as well as a number of scripts, articles and stories in the years prior.

During his time in New Quay, he was said to have frequented the Black Lion pub, and invited a number of friends to come and stay. He wrote a number of letters referencing the town and his fondness for the area.

While here, an interesting story has been told about how his neighbours in New Quay – Vera and Captain William Killick and their child, and a confrontation that was had with the returning captain.

It is believed the captain was jealous of his wife’s friendship with the Thomases and expected that there was more to it.

There was a hostile exchange between Thomas and Killick in The Commercial as Thomas and two film colleagues from London were having some drinks.

The exchange was about differing views on wars – with Killick having just returned from a mission behind enemy lines in Greece.

Killick verbally attacked the group and later, when they all met again, he slapped one of Thomas’ friends and a fistfight ensued between them. It was broken up and Thomas’ party went back to his home.

Killick went home and armed himself with his weapons, including a machine gun and grenade, and attacked Majoda.

This led to an attempted murder charge and an excerpt of Thomas’ description of the event in court stated: “‘….a noise came from the back of the house of glass being smashed and the rattle of a machine gun. Bullets were heard flying through the living room, we crouched down as near to the floor as possible…..

“Then Killick came in with the gun…….he fired the machine gun into the ceiling and said ‘you are nothing but a load of egoists.’”

Killick was acquitted due to his exemplary military record and his state of mind after his return from a particularly dangerous mission. The incident was dramatized in the film The Edge of Love.

He left Wales and was staying with friends in London by September 1945, but his time in New Quay is still recognised today.

There is a Dylan Thomas Trail which takes in a number of places close to Thomas, including the Central Hotel in Llanon, Plas Gelli in Talsarn, through Aberaeron to Majoda and ending in New Quay, with a number of blue plaques and information boards detailing further events from his life.