Long Melford on edge over Keira Knightley connection
A new film about the love life of poet Dylan Thomas has set a village buzzing as people realise two main characters – played by movie superstar Keira Knightley and acclaimed actor Cillian Murphy – are fondly-remembered former neighbours.
The film, The Edge of Love, set around the time of the Second World War, features the relationships between the charismatic Welsh writer, his wife Caitlin and their friends Vera and William Killick.
It is described as a love story driven by passion, broken promises, betrayal, the shadow of war and the threat of imminent death.
Mrs Killick is portrayed as Thomas's former sweetheart and later his lover, and her husband is shown firing a gun at the poet's home.
But the turmoil of the alleged events shown in the film came as a surprise to most people in Long Melford, where the couple lived from the mid-1950s until their deaths around eight years ago.
They and their five daughters are remembered as a friendly, slightly bohemian and well-liked family.
The couple moved from Wales, where The Edge of Love is set, to a large red-brick house called Almacks in Hall Street, Long Melford.
Mrs Killick had a bric-a-brac shop in part of the house and her husband, who was known as Bill, ran a civil engineering company in Sudbury.
Long Melford councillor Richard Kemp, who knew the family, said he had not known about the Dylan Thomas connection until it was featured in a book which came out before the film was released.
"Mrs Killick was a very friendly person, I suppose very off-beat compared to a lot of people in Melford," he said.
"Politically, I think their sympathies were with the Liberals, so in my early days in politics I knew her quite well.
"They were a nice family, well liked, free thinkers, and what you might call bohemian. They got on well in the village and mixed in with people. Unusually for those days, they had a swimming pool in their garden, which they let the local kids use.
"Their daughters were all very nice girls. I can remember gatecrashing a party at their house when I was a teenager.
"Mr Killick was a pipe smoker and used to go across the road the the George and Dragon for his pint," said Mr Kemp.
Almacks was sold after the couple died and split into two houses. Homes were also built on part of the back garden.
barbara.eeles@sudburytoday.co.uk
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Friday 25 May 2012
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