The Dylan Thomas Trail

Dylan Thomas Trail
Dylan Thomas Trail number 9. New Quay
Location	Ceredigion
Use	Walking

The Dylan Thomas Trail (Welsh: Llwybr Dylan Thomas) runs through places associated with the poet Dylan Thomas in Ceredigion, west Wales. It was officially opened by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan’s daughter, in July 2003. The trail is marked by blue plaques and information boards in Lampeter, Aberaeron and New Quay. There is also a detailed guide available, The Dylan Thomas Trail, which helps you walk the route but also describes the poet’s time in the area.

The trail begins on the coast at the Central Hotel in Llanon, then meanders through upland countryside to Plas Gelli, Tal-sarn, the mansion where Dylan and Caitlin lived for part of World War II. It continues to Lampeter, before turning west to wander along the beautiful Aeron valley. The walk passes Tyglyn Aeron (now a hotel) which was the summer home of the publisher, Geoffrey Faber – T. S. Eliot spent holidays here in the 1930s.

The trail then continues past the National Trust’s Llanerchaeron estate until it reaches Aberaeron on the coast of Cardigan Bay. From here, it runs along the cliffs to New Quay, where Dylan and family lived in 1944-45. The trail runs through Plas Llanina, once the home of Lord Howard de Walden, who encouraged Dylan to write in the mansion’s apple house.

Next comes Majoda, the tiny bungalow where Dylan and family lived through one of the coldest winters on record (the field next door was used to build the set for the film, The Edge of Love). The trail then follows the beach, before it arrives in New Quay, its finishing point. There are further day walks on extensions of the trail, including Eli Jenkins' Pub Walk which starts and finishes at the Crown in nearby Llwyndafydd.