Project Description

Unveiling of Dylan Thomas Memorial Stone, Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea

  • Date:

    Friday November 9th

  • Cwmdonkin Park,
    Swansea
    SA2 0RA

  • RESTORED DYLAN THOMAS MEMORIAL TO BE UNVEILED IN PARK

    Fifty-five years after it was first unveiled the memorial stone to Dylan Thomas in Cwmdonkin Park will again be on view after a restoration project coordinated by local groups, when it is unveiled by Glenys Cour, the wife of the late Ronald Cour who sculpted the original. (Friday 9th November 11.00am)

    On 9th November 1963, ten years after the death of Dylan Thomas, the memorial was unveiled at Cwmdonkin Park – Dylan’s “…world within a world of the sea-town…”. The pennant sandstone rock from Cwmrhydyceirw Quarry in Morriston was carved by the late Ronald Cour, a schoolmate of Dylan at Swansea Grammar School. At the unveiling fifty five years ago to the day, Dylan’s great friend Vernon Watkins read Dylan’s Cwmdonkin poem – Hunchback in the Park.

    The stone was paid for by the owners of Caedmon Records, Barbara Holdridge and Marianne Mantell, who famously recorded Dylan reading many of his works including the first performance of Under Milk Wood at the Kauffman Auditorium in New York

    In the intervening years the stone has become a place of pilgrimage for Dylan enthusiasts but in recent years had suffered from the growth of moss and natural erosion of the surface.

    In a partnership between the Dylan Thomas Society, the Dylan Thomas Birthplace, the Friends of Cwmdonkin Park and the four local City Councillors (Irene Mann, Peter May, Mary Sherwood, Nick Davies) the stone has been cleaned and restored by monumental masons G Williams and Son of Gorseinon.

    Says Geoff Haden, the chairman of the Society and curator of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace “We’re delighted that Glenys Cour has agreed to unveil the restored stone on the 65th anniversary of Dylan’s death at the age of 39 in New York as this is an important step in raising the awareness of Dylan in the city.

    “We hope all Dylan enthusiasts will come along and then join us after at the bowls pavilion cafe – the location for the showdown in Dylan’s love triangle Patricia, Edith and Arnold.”

    Further information Geoff Haden 01792 472555/ 07506064973