A Hollywood star drinking with his dad in the village pub while his world-famous girlfriend mixed with locals as if she was one of them.
"Everyone has stories about Richard Burton," said Andrea Edwards.
In many ways, Pontrhydyfen is a typical community in the Afan valley.
But in 2025, it celebrates two important anniversaries – 100 years since the birth of its most famous son and 200 years since work started on a bridge he became synonymous with.
Despite the fact the anniversaries are two years away, conversations have started about the events – illustrating the importance to this community of properly remembering one of Wales' greatest screen stars who died in 1984, aged 58.
A meeting is planned later this month for people to put forward ideas.
Even now, 39 years after his death, fans still visit to recreate the image of the actor walking over Y Bont Fawr with his coalminer dad.
There are sites linked to Burton all around – including a semi-overgrown memorial in chapel grounds – and villagers want to make that more accessible, as well as uncovering stories of the star's time in the area, his life and career.
"He came back to see Hilda, his sister, and his brother… I met Elizabeth Taylor [Burton's Hollywood actress wife], but I was six and didn't know who she was," recalls Andrea.
"He signed my War of the Worlds album [which Burton narrated]."
A sign welcoming people to the former mining village acknowledges it is also the birthplace of Ivor Emmanuel, who starred in Zulu and opera singer Rebecca Evans.
These claims alone are pretty impressive for an area with fewer than 1,000 residents.
Yet, it is links to Burton it is best known for.
Born in the village in 1925, he starred in Hollywood blockbuster Cleopatra, as well as giving powerful performances in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood and Shakespearean stage roles.
Renowned as much for his colourful life as his acting, he was married five times – including twice to Taylor – whom he starred in 11 films with.
As chairwoman of Pontrhydyfen Miners' Welfare Scheme, Andrea wants "everyone to come together" in the area to "capture all the stories" about the star.
In doing so, this would document not only the actor's links to the area, but also stories of how life has changed in the 100 years since he was born – including the industry that has gone, pubs that have closed and the choirs and brass band that no longer play.
Burton's final resting place is not in Pontrhydyfen, but in a graveyard more than 700 miles (1,126km) away in Celigny, Switzerland.
After it deteriorated, a Cardiff man living nearby restored it in 2022.
There is a tribute to the actor, though, on his parents' grave in the village.
This too had become "very overgrown" and was "in a terrible state", according to villager David Hutchison.
"This is a great disappointment as there are a number of Richard Burton fans who visit Pontrhydyfen each year and wish to view the memorial," he said.
"It is quite disappointing that they are presented with such a mess."
Mr Hutchison and his wife have helped maintain access to it in the past, but with two big anniversaries coming up, he believes the authorities should make the gravestone a focus of celebrations.
However, because the graveyard is in the grounds of a former chapel which is now privately-owned, Neath Port Talbot council said it could not tend to it.
Cimla and Pelenna councillor Jeremy Hurley has spoken to the owner and discussed the possibility of volunteers organising clear-ups.
He believes another giant of the area should be celebrated with the man it was famously linked with.
It is also almost 200 years since work started on Y Bont Fawr, which translates to The Big Bridge.
It was formerly an aqueduct to provide water to Cwmavon blast furnaces, but now a walkway which featured in a photograph of Burton that appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world.
"The Big Bridge and Richard Burton, we feel as a village we should promote these things and get the community together," said Mr Hurley.
"There is so much history, we are surrounded by heritage. Perhaps we don't take the full opportunity to celebrate this.
"We regularly get bus loads of people wanting to recreate the iconic photo of Burton with his dad on the aqueduct."
His famous name is kept alive in various ways – a walk around the area called The Richard Burton Trail opened in 2011, while the Richard Burton 10k race takes place every November.
However, calls have long been made for more recognition in the wider area.
In 2017, Burton's niece Sian Owen said: "I definitely think it's a shame. I think there should be a permanent memorial for him and also the other people who have come from Port Talbot.
"A lot of world famous people have come from Port Talbot and I think a memorial is essential."
Before that, in 2011, a campaign was led by then-AM Peter Black, who said: "It is already a tourist attraction and I believe a permanent exhibition either in Pontrhydyfen or in Port Talbot itself would be a great attraction to Burton fans."
As the centenary of his birth approaches, it will perhaps be the stories, still vivid in some people's minds, that help paint the best picture of the local boy turned Hollywood star.
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