Why a mural of Eastenders legend Dot Cotton has appeared in a Welsh village
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ByElen Davies, BBC Wales and Chris Wood, BBC WalesPublished29 June 2026Updated 1 hour agoA mural depicting life in a Welsh village has left some people scratching their heads, as it features the Eastenders legend Dot Cotton.
The soap character - formerly played by the late June Brown - appears next to a dragon, a miner and rugby player in Pontyates, Carmarthenshire. The fictional Queen Vic where Dot once drank in Albert Square is seemingly a world away from the sleepy former mining village in the Gwendraeth Valley. But Brown, who died in 2022 aged 95, was evacuated to Pontyates during World War Two and later spoke fondly of the place she found sanctuary in as a 12-year-old.
The idea behind the mural was to brighten up the village of around 1,500 people, so artist Steve Jenkins was enlisted. It was during a brainstorming session with children from two local schools that the Eastenders icon's name was brought up alongside miners and local rugby players. "Not knowing June Brown's history to Pontyates, [artist] Jenks was a bit gobsmacked," said chairwoman of the village's improvement group Rhian Cooper.
"[After] looking into the history then, he found out that she was a refugee, and at 12 years old was sent to Pontyates to live with a family and she was chosen to be on the mural then." Brown was born in Suffolk, but when she appeared on the BBC's genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? in 2011 she explained that her grandfather was from Scotland, her mother from Italian stock, and her great-great-great grandfather was a famous Jewish bare-knuckle fighter in London's East End.
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