Winning entries to a wildlife photographic competition were on show on Sunday (July 16), and will inspire more nature-themed artwork in public spaces close to Bitterne Station.

The theme of the competition was local wildlife, and winners – selected by children from each year group at Bitterne Manor Primary School – were on display at a fundraising community morning hosted by the Friends of Bitterne Station around the station itself.

Joanna, right, with the winning entries on display at Bitterne Station

Entrants had been encouraged to submit up to three photos capturing wildlife around the city – and they’d done just that, from a stag beetle and a mouse to a hedgehog and a cormorant.

“We did a call to local residents, and it’s about looking at the wildlife – ‘nature all around us’ is the title. So it’s trying to get everyone involved in looking at what we have around us nature-wise, and we want people to be part of it,” said local artist Joanna Rose Tidey.

 Artist Joanna Rose Tidey with her mouse mural in Macnaghten Road, with Bitterne Road West traffic above

“With [those] photos I am going to be basing 11 murals which will [form] an arts trail around the local area for people to go around.”

Funding for the community informed project comes from the South Western Railway Customer and Improvement Fundm and it's led by the station friends, in partnership with the Friends of Cobbett Road Library, Three Rivers Rail Partnership and Bitterne Manor Primary School.

Butterflies on the footpath between Athelstan Road and Quayside Road, with sponsored butterflies to the left of the post

Two murals have been completed already: you’ll find the colourful mouse who lives by the recycling point on Macnaghten Road near Bitterne Road West, and a big butterfly who inhabits the cut between Athelstan Road and Quayside Road.

Lots of smaller butterflies lead up to the big butterfly – and people can also sponsor a butterfly with their own or a loved one’s initials, with funds going towards buying anti-graffiti paint to protect the murals.

A sponsored butterly

Joanna explained that as well as improving an area that’s used by lots of people and that has been a target for tagging, the project also aims to involve local people so they can take ownership.

The plan is to continue artwork along the cut over the pedestrian railway bridge, and other local sites near the station are also being identified for more wildlife-inspired murals.

Another sponsored butterfly. Funds raised go towards anti-graffiti paint

Joanna will also be working in Bitterne Manor school, so every class will benefit from an art session with her, teaching them how to use watercolour paints with proper materials.

“There’s not a lot of that, is there, in schools nowadays,” she said.

• To sponsor a butterfly for £10 with your initial or of someone's dear to you contact Friends of Bitterne Station on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.