To look at the charming port town of Burry Port in West Wales, you wouldn’t think it held a key element of a tragedy.
But it’s actually connected to the late Mary Poppins star Glynis Johns in a sad way.
With a population estimated at around 6,000 people after the 2019 census, Burry Port is nestled in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on the Loughor estuary. Close by you’ll find the Pembrey Burrows sand dune and wetland system, as well as the Cefn Sidan sands.
Not only was Burry Port the location where Amelia Earhart ended her journey across the Atlantic as the first woman to fly a plane over the ocean, but it’s also where Glynis Johns is buried.
The late actress was best known for playing suffragette Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins, and died at the grand age of 100 in her Los Angeles home in January 2024.
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Burry Port is home to a Hollywood tragedy (Image: Getty)
But after her cremation, Glynis’ ashes were to be laid to rest next to her Welsh father, fellow actor Mervyn Johns. They were brought to the Jerusalem Independent Chapel in Burry Port, where her father’s ashes also lie.
Before the burial, a “lovely, solemn” ceremony was held for Glynis, with Stephen Sondheim’s composition Send in the Clowns – which he wrote specifically for Glynis – performed.
The chapel’s minister, Chris Owen, told the Pembrokeshire Herald that he’d been approached by Glynis’ goddaughter, who lives in the US, to access the burial site. He said: “It was quite a surprise – I hadn’t realised she had any connection to Burry Port.
Glynis Johns died at the age of 100 (Image: Getty)
“It’s really touching. I remember her films from my youth, back in the black and white days. Her father had a stronger link to Burry Port, and I’ve been told she used to visit occasionally, to find some respite from the pressures of fame.”
Mervyn died in 1992 after racking up an impressive array of screen and stage credits. He was born in Pembroke but later moved to London where he died aged 93.