On Saturday (July 13), Chris Packham, who grew up in Midanbury and Bitterne Park, launched a new wildlife art trail centred around Bitterne Station, which included unveiling new artwork at Cobbett Road Library
• ‘Knowledge Protects Nature: Chris Packham unveils new Cobbett Road Library artwork

The wildlife TV presenter and conservationist joined the Friends of Bitterne Station, representatives from South Western Railway, local artist Joanna Rose Tidey and other community representatives to take a tour of the ‘Nature All Around Us’ trail.

Chris Packham discovers the colourful mouse who lives under Bitterne Road West and forms part of a wildlife art trail. Photo: FOBS

Ready for the off from the newly revamped Bitterne Station ticket office to find the art!

It’s based on photographs taken by local people, with murals showcasing the region’s colourful wildlife in an urban environment around Bitterne Manor.

The trail embraces the #restorenaturenow campaign, with which Packham has been recently involved.

On the trail on Bitterne Road West. Photo: FOBS

From honey and bumble bees, a tortoiseshell butterfly and a stag beetle, to a colourful hedgehog, field mouse, white-lipped snail and kingfishers, all of these and more are depicted in sometimes unexpected places: on a wall by a road, by or on a railway bridge, and on your local library - or even on your local pub’s - wall.

Chris Packham on 'Bugs Bridge' - a footbridge over the railway - looking at the wildlife murals. Photo: FOBS

It’s an area Packham knows really well. He told bitternepark.info he used to go bird watching and fishing in the 60s and 70s at Chessel Bay, and his father used to work at the quay.

“Art in public spaces is really important,” he reflected.

“We should all have a right to have art. And I get fed up with the amount of advertising we get chucked at us all the time.

“So trying to get that balance, where people can just[look] at something that’s pleasurable to look at, where it connects to them and speaks to them, rather than being sold another burger, is really important, I think.”

He added that like any modernising city there had been phenomenal changes since the 1960s, but that “it’s great to see people putting focus back on the wildlife and the important element that can play on their lives”.

Comparing wildlife art notes on Bugs Bridge. Photo: FOBS

Local artist Joanna Rose Tidey, who chatted with Packham about her work during the tour, said the project had been very special because it had involved so many people.

“It’s not just me that’s done this. It’s been the whole of the community,” she said.

For example she said the project had involved her running lessons for all the children at Bitterne Manor Primary School, and, as reported, secondary school students had created a mural depicting Local Nature Reserve wildlife at Chessel Bay. Various community groups have also been involved.

“It’s been such a big project. The murals are just one part of it,” she said, noting that others had also shown support by sponsoring a little butterfly, painted onto the railway bridge to Chessel Bay from Athelstan Road, towards purchasing anti-graffiti paint to protect the artworks.

Reflecting on the green corridor on Bugs Bridge. Photo: FOBS.

The work was funded by the South Western Railway’s Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF), led by Friends of Bitterne Station (FOBS), and delivered in partnership with Friends of Cobbett Road Library, Three Rivers Rail Partnership and Bitterne Manor Primary School, as well as the local community.

Senior regional development manager at South Western Railway Phil Dominey said: “Friends of Bitterne Station delivered an amazing project, engaging children and the local community to celebrate nature and wildlife around the station.”

On which local pub wall would you find this new friend?

He added: "From community hubs, cycle clubs, environmental projects and initiatives that promote physical well-being, to funding full-time outreach workers, CCIF provides investment for important local projects that make a real difference to people and communities across our network."

Roberta, one of the Friends, thanked SWR CCIF “for giving us the opportunity and funds to work with Joanna on this project”.

She said: “The artworks remind everyone in the community of the value of nature and our wildlife, especially now that it is becoming rarer…”

Another Friend of Bitterne Station volunteer said: “Being able to celebrate the completion of the project with Chris Packham is an honour and adds to our motivation as a community group to do more to protect nature in our neighbourhood”.

The new work outside Cobbett Road Library, with artist Joanna Rose Tidey and Chris Packham

Towards the conclusion of the trail, Packham unveiled a new work on the side of Cobbett Road Library, another of his old haunts, featuring a fox and a selection of his wildlife books. You can read our report on that, and watch a video of the launch, here.