Cycle Touring in Wales. Richard Barrett

remained a sleepy backwater. Thomas clearly loved the place, and it is thought to have inspired the fictional town of Llareggub in his most enduring work, Under Milk Wood. However, other places that have a fleeting association with Thomas further along our route make similar claims.

      Thomas and his family stayed for just four years until his early death in 1953, which was brought about by a notoriously excessive lifestyle. Thomas is buried in the town’s churchyard and despite a stormy marriage beset by drunkenness and infidelity, his wife Caitlin (1913–1994), who left Laugharne at the earliest opportunity, chose to be buried next to him. Today, the place that Thomas called a ‘timeless, mild, beguiling island of a town’ celebrates him and other Welsh culture in an annual literary and arts festival called the Laugharne Weekend, which takes place in April. See www.thelaugharneweekend.com