After a period in Blashford, Hampshire with Caitlin's mother, they eventually settled in a rented cottage in Gosport Street, Laugharne, in the spring of 1938, before moving into 'Sea View' a couple of months later. They left 'Sea View' in July 1940 and then led a peripatetic lifestyle; over the next few years, they lived in Hampshire (again), Wiltshire, Chelsea, Bishopston, Talsarn, New Quay, Blaencwm (Llansteffan), Oxford and Italy, before returning from Italy to South Leigh in Oxfordshire in September 1947. In May 1949, the Thomases moved into The Boat House, which had come on the market for £3000, and was purchased by Margaret Taylor, one of Dylan's benefactors, and wife of the historian A. J. P. Taylor.