“DURING a recent visit to Aber, I was sitting on Tan-y-bwlch beach looking up at Pen Dinas with the roaring sea behind me, feeling my deep connection to the land and realising how everything about Aberystwyth has profoundly shaped me and my creativity - how it still lives deep within my heart and soul.”

These are the musings of actress and musician Jane Stanness.

The name will be familiar to fans of TV shows Nighty Night and Hunderby, and Jane’s real name, Jane Alison Sherman, will be familiar to many in the seaside town in which she was born and raised.

“I was born Jane Alison Sherman, daughter of physiotherapist Gordon Sherman and Pam Sherman. Myself and my two brothers, triathlete Stuart Sherman and Olympic football coach Robert Sherman and I were all born and brought up in Aberystwyth, living first in Penparcau then later on in Elysian Grove,” she recalls.

“I went to Plascrug primary school and then onto Ardwyn Grammar, doing my last year of A-levels at Penglais School (the year it was first built).

“I spent a few years in London then I moved back to Aberystwyth in 1980 and had my eldest daughter there in 1983.

“At that time I worked with the North Dyfed Dance Project under the direction of Cliff Lucas alongside dance practitioner Margaret Aimes, having trained in dance at Laban.”

As a teenager, Jane was part of the Wardens drama group and played the lead role of Sheila in An Inspector Calls at the age of 15.

“I also worked backstage at Theatr y Werin [at Aberystwyth Arts Centre] during my teens for as many productions as I possibly could, and spent one summer season operating the follow spot in the lighting booth for a play with Julie Walters, Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite and Matthew Kelly.

“I still have family (my stepmother Susan Sherman) and friends in Aberystwyth, and have been best friends with local artist Karen Pearce since I was 12.

“Sadly my dear father passed away two years ago. He was a beloved member of the Aberystwyth community and his ashes are scattered on Aberystwyth golf course, overlooking the sea.”

Under the name Jane Stanness, she has just finished filming Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s latest comedy horror film, Slaughter House Rulez.

Directed by Crispian Mills, it stars Michael Sheen, Simon Pegg and Asa Butterfield.

“I play a truly monstrous matron,” said Jane.

See this week’s south papers for the full feature, available in shops and as a digital edition now