{"id":522173,"date":"2026-06-28T04:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T04:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/522173\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T04:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T04:44:11","slug":"from-the-ddraig-goch-to-dot-cotton-village-unveils-new-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/522173\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Ddraig Goch to Dot Cotton: Village unveils new mural"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Image credit: JenksArt via Facebook<\/p>\n

Nation.Cymru Staff <\/p>\n

A mural celebrating a Welsh village\u2019s history has attracted attention online after featuring an unlikely local connection to a much-loved EastEnders character.<\/p>\n

The new artwork in Pontiets, organised by Pontyates Community Improvement, includes the Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal, daffodils, the Ddraig Goch, the Pontyates RFC logo, and the Arthurian Twrch Trwyth.<\/p>\n

However, many people online were stumped by the appearance of EastEnders\u2019 Dot Cotton alongside the Welsh symbols.<\/p>\n

Artist Stephen Jenkins, known as JenksArt, worked on the final design during the June heatwave. Teasing the mural on Facebook, he wrote: \u201cAnd what is Dot Cotton doing on a wall in rural Wales, Pontiets to be precise\u2026.. anyone know the answer!! Tufty badge for the winner!\u201d<\/p>\n

Several commenters highlighted that, in the show, Dot Cotton had been evacuated to the small, Welsh village during the Second World War.<\/p>\n

This was based on the real-life experience of June Brown, the actress who played Cotton, who had herself been evacuated to Pontiets before joining the Wrens.<\/p>\n

Jenkins told S4C<\/a> that after hearing about the connection, he had no plans to include Dot Cotton in the design, but was eventually swayed by a member of Pontyates Community Improvement.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis is the part of the mural that everyone is asking about and talking about. This will probably be the most popular part of the whole wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Pontiets Mural. Image credit: JenksArt via Facebook<\/p>\n

The volunteer organisation Pontyates Community Improvement first developed the idea for a mural four years ago. However, Jenkins explained that the project was initially \u201cso big I thought the budget to do it all was a bit astronomical for a small village\u201d.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cLo and behold a few fundraising activities have taken place and we\u2019ve gone and gotten it painted!!! Huge thanks to Pontyates Community Improvement \u2013 Gwella Cymuned Pontiets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final design was born from brainstorming sessions with local schoolchildren who offered ideas for things to include, providing \u201ca mixture\u201d of icons.<\/p>\n

The mural has since been featured in the S4C article and on Radio Cymru, and has attracted widespread praise online.<\/p>\n

Residents shared the enthusiasm, saying: \u201cOh my gosh that\u2019s absolutely gorgeous. You\u2019re so talented the detail is amazing. Thank you very much for sharing your artworks with the village.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cSo much to look at, it\u2019s fantastic. So many different figures. Amazing work again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jenkins also included an image of a card sent to him by Pontyates Community Improvement, who said that the \u201camazing mural\u201d had \u201cexceeded all our expectations and been a lovely talking point in our little village.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also shared their gratitude with the local community who had contributed to fundraising efforts, writing: \u201cThank you for all the support! Diolch o galon am yr holl cefnogaeth!\u201d<\/p>\n

JenksArt, originally from Llanelli, specialises in custom murals. You can view more of his work on his Facebook<\/a> and his site.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image credit: JenksArt via Facebook Nation.Cymru Staff A mural celebrating a Welsh village\u2019s history has attracted attention online…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-522173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}