h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...was the name of a house I saw once, as a child, in Swansea. It wasn't until I read Under Milk Wood that the name made sense.

My granddad used to be a naval man and hung around many of the same pubs that DT did when he was still capable of going into a bar and ordering a pint (DT that is, not my granddad). He said he had a ferocious appetite for beer.

My grandfather went to school with Dylan Thomas. He had a signed copy of the first edition of '18 poems' with the message 'one of the reos the mermaid knocked about a bit'. The Mermaid was a pub in Mumbles (around the bay from Swansea) and I think 'reo' was a cheap beer at the time so it pretty much summarises what they got up to together.

One of the stories in 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog' called 'Extraordinary Little Cough' is based on a holiday they took together. Apparently it was Dylan Thomas himself who ran the whole length of rhosilly bay (excuse spelling) and back - he was a very good runnner before he started drinking.

Wow. That's well up on the usual 'Lloyd George knew my father' sort of stuff. I came from Swansea and so had DT's poetry rammed down my throat at school. I was never much good at Eng. Lit. and so I turned off when I had someone as abstruse as DT (for a twelve year old, anyway) quoted at me. Now I like it a lot. I can't say I respect the man as much as his works, though: he seemed like a bit of a waster.

I have never read 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog' in its entirity, but I enjoyed the short story about him and his mate smoking fags when they were nippers. Captured the essence of young boys brillantly. Are you an ex-Swansea person as well, BTW?

The FM

No, I'm Oxford born and bred, but I had some great holidays staying with my grandparents in the Gower before my grandfather died. They lived on the sea front of Mumbles, just a few hundred meters from where the Mermaid pub was.

The Mumbles is a nice place. I spent many a happy childhood hour down near Bracelet Bay. However, I used to prefer to go further into the Gower when I could. Oxwich and Rhossili were my favourite haunts. We used to go our sea fishing in my mate's speedboat. Never caught anything, though. Apart from a nasty cold, once. I think my favourite place of all is Three Cliffs Bay, which is absolutely beautiful.