The house of Captain Cat

On a moist and misty evening I joined the Under Milk Wood tour of the 1972 film locations, with actors from a local theatre group reciting extracts from the radio play. Dylan Thomas did not have Fishguard in mind when he wrote it (he visited only once, and briefly, in 1936) but the reflected glory of its filming here, with Richard Burton starring, has never worn off.
First stop was the Gorsedd circle up above the old harbour, followed by an old school and the Tabernacle chapel, before descending to the quay to gather outside other significant venues including the house of Captain Cat (inset, left) who yearns sightlessly for his lost love from an upper window thrown wide to the sun and the clippered seas he sailed long ago when his eyes were blue and bright... In 1972 the very same house was furnished with a mocked-up stern of a boat (see original photo, right) and the blind skipper was played by Peter O'Toole.
A new production of Under Milk Wood has recently been filmed at another Pembrokeshire harbour, Solva, and this time the part of Captain Cat is played by Tom Jones.
The tour ended at the nearby Ship Inn, which was drunk dry by the film crew on the final night of the original filming.