‘She was just Gaynor from up the road’ – villagers ready for emotional Bonnie Tyler goodbye

The e a e ‘t ma y villages whe e you ca walk i to a jewelle s, a ha dwa e shop, o a cafe, a d hea sto ies about o e of the wo ld’s biggest music ico s.

But i Mumbles, Swa sea, Bo ie Tyle was eve t eated like a supe sta .

To ma y local people, she was Gay o Sulliva , o “Gay o who lived up the oad”.

The Total Eclipse of the Hea t si ge , who died i July aged 75, would ofte be see doi g he shoppi g o havi g a d i k with f ie ds.

O Wed esday it seemed o ly fitti g that the ico ic so g could be hea d playi g th oughout the village as the biggest pa tial sola eclipse i ea ly th ee decades took place, with Spotify st eams of it almost doubli g.

As locals p epa e to say goodbye to Tyle , who split he time betwee the Mumbles a d a home i Po tugal, it’s o di a y mome ts that people seem to emembe most.

O Satu day, hu d eds of people a e expected to li e the st eets of Newto Road to pay thei espects, as Tyle ‘s coffi makes its way th ough the village to he home o Mumbles Road.

A se vice will the be held i St Ma y’s Chu ch i Swa sea city ce t e o Mo day, fo family a d i vited guests, befo e the co tege makes its way to he bi thplace of Skewe , Neath Po t Talbot.

“It was always so ice to have Bo ie Tyle as pa t of the village, I would ofte see he shoppi g,” said shop ow e Ja e P ice.

“You’d see he beautiful house comi g i to Mumbles, a d she will be g eatly missed.

“It made you p oud to k ow that Bo ie was pa t of the village a d pa t of Swa sea. It’s so sad that she’s ot with us a y mo e but he memo y will defi itely live o he e.”

P ice, who u s The Lovespoo Galle y, expects local people to come out i fo ce o Satu day, addi g: “I imagi e the st eets will be li ed a d we’ll give he the se d-off she dese ves.”

Fo staff at Cash Ha dwa e o Newto Road, Tyle was also a familia face.

“She was always happy, bubbly a d chatty to eve yo e,” said sto e supe viso Alfie Williams.

“I was quite sta -st uck. A few times we’d talk about who was the most famous people we’d se ved i the shop a d she’d always be at the top of the list.

“It’s also i te esti g whe you d ive past he house o Mumbles Road, you’d say ‘oh look it’s Gay o ‘s house’.”

Sto e ow e Ch is F a cis said that was simply how people k ew he , addi g: “Gay o we used to call he , because she was quite well-k ow to us.

“She was always ve y pleasa t, just like a o mal custome goi g about thei busi ess.

“We’d delive to he house if eeded. She was just a ice pe so .”

“A ve y lo g time ago I we t out with the othe mums f om school i Mumbles. We used to go to PA’s Wi e Ba , a d she’d quite ofte be i the e havi g a couple of d i ks late i the eve i g,” said Heidi Walto .

“But she was just pa t of the ga g.

“She just ble ded i , she was a cha acte .

“You’d hea he befo e you’d see he , a d eve yo e was ve y fo d of he he e i Mumbles.”

Walto , who u s a jewelle y shop, added: “It’s ve y sad, a d eve yo e he e has bee affected.”

It’s how the si ge is desc ibed time a d time agai – as someo e who was dow -to-ea th athe tha a global supe sta .

The si ge ‘s death has p ompted a outpou i g of co dole ces, with the commu ity cou cil o ga isi g a book of memo ies at the Ost eme ce t e.

It has quickly filled up with sto ies, ma y f om people sayi g they met he at the local Ma ks & Spe ce sto e, a d she was always happy to stop a d chat.

O e e t y tells of a woma f om F a ce who was feeli g “homesick” while livi g i Mumbles.

It says she met Bo ie, who was “ext emely ki d” a d she helped lift he spi its.

Family f ie d Julie Read, who calls he Gay o athe tha Bo ie Tyle , emembe s a much mo e pe so al side.

She stayed at the si ge ‘s villa i Po tugal fo thei ho eymoo , addi g: “She was the ki dest pe so you’ll eve meet.

“We spe t ma y Ch istmas days ove he house, a d o e of my favou ite photos is of my daughte playi g the pia o the e a d Gay o sta di g beside he .

“Whe my daughte was fou yea s old, she sa g at he house at Ch istmastime a d Gay o was holdi g the mic fo he .

“It’s just a ve y sad time.”

O Su day, the village will emembe Tyle ‘s life with a special eve t added o to this yea ‘s Ret o Week music eve t.

A t ibute to he was o igi ally ca celled afte the ews of he death, but it was late ei stated afte the o ga ise was co tacted by atte dees aski g whethe the e will be a cha ce to emembe he .

The e is due to be si ge s pe fo mi g some of he so gs, a cha ce to hea f om membe s of he team, a d people sha i g sto ies about he life a d ca ee .

O ga ise Paul Whittake said: “She was just Gay o f om up the oad.

“I thi k that’s what e dea ed he to people.

“She was dow -to-ea th, the e we e o ai s a d g aces.

“She was ‘t su ou ded by a team of people p otecti g he , she was just he self.”

The eve t will also give fa s a cha ce to meet a d sha e thei ow memo ies.

But pe haps the most poig a t mome t will be whe the co tege passes th ough the st eets o Satu day.

Whittake said the music at the week-lo g festival will stop du i g this time.

The late , at the family’s equest, Tyle ‘s hit It’s a Hea tache, a d he ve sio of Simply the Best will be played ac oss the bay.

Fo a si ge who sa g all ac oss the wo ld, it will be a i timate fa ewell i the place she called home.