The London Welsh Rugby Club Choir were involved in the Dylan Thomas 100th Anniversary Festival when his ‘Writing Shed’ was brought to London after a tour of Britain in 2014.
The shed was parked in Store Street, off Tottenham Court Road and in Fitzrovia which as we all know was Dylan’s happy drinking ground. The choir sang outside in the street and inside the Store Street building Music Shop.
The event was organised by Griff Rhys Jones and he was joined by the actors Owen Teale, who recited from Dylan’s poetry, Tom Hollander, the late Alan Rickman, and Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard and The Independent.
Later in the week I went on the organised Dylan Thomas Pub Crawl around Fitzrovia which was organised by the Festival committee, and included surprise actors who were playing parts of Dylan’s life, popping up in unlikely places. Later, there was a Shepherds Hut installed in Fitzroy Square where you could hear readings from Dylan’s work by ‘The Shepherd’, surrounded by a flock of sheep! There was also a concert in The Festival Hall and one in Eastcastle Street Chapel.
Some years ago the choir organised their own successful Dylan Thomas Fitzrovia pub crawl during the choir summer recess visiting:
The Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place
The Duke of York, Rathbone Street
Newman Arms, Rathbone Street
Fitzroy Tavern, Charlotte Street
Bricklayer’s Arms, Gresse Street
College Arms, Store Street
By Robert ‘Joe’ Martyn Jones
(More photos will be shared on our Instagram. We can’t wait to visit the above pubs!)
