Madam, David Rowe of CADW is wrong to say that the court room in Lampeter Town Hall is of no historical interest (14 April). It was the setting in 1945 of the trial of William Killick, a commando who was accused of attempting to murder the poet Dylan Thomas with a machine gun at his bungalow in New Quay. Thomas was the principal witness, together with Alastair Graham, the former lover of Evelyn Waugh. Facilities at the town hall were even more dismal then than they are today: there were no toilets for the women jurors, who were obliged to cross the road to use those in the Castle Hotel. During the 1940s, Thomas lived in Talsarn and was a regular at the Castle, often staying there to finish his film scripts. He drank in the public bar ("he wasn't very fond of the satins and silks," said landlord Edward Evans) and joined in the Welsh hymn singing with the Lampeter rugby players. The College grounds were a favourite walk when he was working on his poetry. He was booked to read his poems at a reading in Lampeter in early 1954, but he died a few months before the event. And William Killick? He was acquitted, and there was a huge party in the Castle Hotel afterwards. He was a popular figure in the town: not only was he a dashing war hero, but his mother-in-law was a Cardi, born in Llanarth. If Menter Llambed is keen to attract more tourists, then something should be done in the refurbishment of the town hall to highlight Thomas' involvement in William Killick's sensational trial (it made the News of the World), as well as the poet's other connections with the town.

Yours etc, David N. Thomas 1 Dolfor Ciliau Aeron.