Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Passengers boarding the Stena Europe ferry in Fishguard today should expect to make way for an unusual passenger. A replica of Dylan Thomas’ famous writing shed will be sailing across the Irish Sea to take part in the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival in Dún Laoghaire from September 11-14. The shed - complete with curled pictures on the walls, boiled sweets on the desk and the poet’s jacket still hanging on the back of his chair – is on tour as part of Dylan Thomas 100, the year-long festival commemorating the centenary of the Welsh writer’s birth. The original sits above the Boathouse in the seaside town of Laugharne, where Thomas lived with his wife Caitlin (whose family hailed from County Clare),and where he penned some of his most famous works including Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and his play for voices Under Milk Wood. Hannah Ellis, Dylan Thomas’ granddaughter, said: “Given my grandparents’ connection with the country, I am really pleased to see the Dylan Thomas cen...

Three Aberystwyth University staff members and one student will row across the Irish Sea this weekend (4-6 May) as part of the Celtic Challenge rowing race which will see 23 teams row from Arklow in Ireland to Aberystwyth.  Hannah Payne who works at the Research Office, Dr Phillipa Nicholas and Dr Rosemary Collins from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) and Sue Walker, a second year student from the Department of Sports and Exercise Science, will form part of a 12 woman team of rowers from Aberystwyth Rowing Club. The 2012 Challenge, which has seen the largest ever entry, will be dependent entirely on the weather conditions during the May Bank Holiday weekend with regard to starting time. The race will aim to start on Saturday afternoon, arriving in Aberystwyth on Sunday morning. The ladies team, who will row a distance of about 90 miles, are taking part in the Challenge in order to raise vital funds for Apêl Elain www.apelelain.com a f...