A WALKING tour will reveal Dylan Thomas's frustrations with living Oxford on the day the world celebrates his work.

The Welsh poet lived in the city for just over a year from 1946 and, on International Dylan Thomas Day tomorrow, local historian Mark Davies will led a tour explaining his love-hate relationship with the place.

The one-and-a-half mile tour from Oxford Castle to Magdalen College will also track Welsh associations with the city dating back to pre-Roman times.

The day of celebration marks the anniversary of the first public reading of Thomas's radio drama Under Milk Wood.

Mr Davies said: "This is the second year of the tour and it worked well last year so I saw no reason not to continue it.

"While he didn't publish any poetry when he was here, Oxford could claim - in an odd sense - to have inspired Under Milk Wood, perhaps his greatest work.

"He got so frustrated with Oxford's flatness he was desperate to return to Wales which led to him writing the radio play.

"His time in Oxford is not very well known ,but we ought to celebrate it and his work at least once a year."

Thomas and his wife Caitlin were kicked out of their London home shortly after the Second World War and arrived unannounced at the house of Oxford don and noted historian and broadcaster A.J.P Taylor in 1946.

Taylor and his wife Margaret had known the couple before and Mrs Taylor developed a fondness for Thomas which angered her husband.

He was eventually banished by Mr Taylor to South Leigh, near Witney, where he lived - with his wife on two children - for several months before returning to Wales.

The tour will take in some of the pubs regularly visited by the notorious drinker during his short stay in the city and explore the surroundings in which he attempted to write.

It will end at Holywell Ford, the summerhouse in the grounds of Magdalen College, the Taylors' house, where he stayed.

Mr Davies said Thomas found the city to be "snobbish" towards someone without a degree.

One of his poems read: "Oxford I sing, though in untutored tones, alack!

"I heard, long years ago, her call, but blew it back"

Mr Davies said: "He was a bit scathing about Oxford to be honest.

"He never did a degree and he was a little snobbish about the city and in particular its undergraduates.

He added: "It's probably a sentiment shared by many who live in the city but don't go to the university."

The tour costs £12 and will include entrance to Magdalen College's ground.

To book tickets go to oxfordcastleunlocked.co.uk/events