Jane's Midlife Journey

The seaside suburb of Southbourne, some 3 miles east of Bournemouth does not have the same amount of public art as its neighbour, Boscombe. However, there are some murals in the main road which warrant attention, including a traffic stopper of a public toilet. Even the former bank was given a paint job with some SoBo logos (gone now that the bank is about to become a bar…)

Street Art Route

Most of the works listed below can be seen by walking along the main road, Southbourne Grove (later Bellevue Road) as far as Southbourne Crossroads. Turn right here and head for the Promenade via St Catherine’s Slope. Total distance: 2.5 miles. There are a few outliers, which are slightly further afield, listed at the end.

	Southbourne Grove	Location
1	Seagull	Brewhouse & Kitchen
2	Love SoBo	Sobo Nobab
3	Yellow Submarine	Bellevue Stores
4	Explain Pain	Back to Fitness
5	Gods of the Sea	Southbourne Crossroads Toilets
	Promenade
6		SoBo Beach
7	In Progress	Fisherman’s Walk
8	Darren Wiles	Fisherman’s Walk
	Further Afield
9	Charles Rolls	Footpath from Bellevue Road to Southlands Ave
10	We are Stourfield	Stourfield Schools
11	Sunflowers	Woodland Walk

1. Brewhouse & Kitchen

Start at the beginning of Southbourne Grove at the Brewhouse & Kitchen pub. To the rear, behind the beer garden, you will find a seagull nursing a pint of beer.

2. Love SoBo

Southbourne Grove. Southbourne residents like to refer to the area as SoBo. A little further along the main road (Southbourne Grove) on the side of Sobo Nobab restaurant, you can find this Love SoBo mural by local artist, Ricky Also.

3. Yellow Submarine

Follow the main road (it becomes Belle Vue Road) until you reach two shops with artsy exteriors. First, is Bellevue Stores. You will have to be out early or late to see this one, as it’s on the shutters. Here, if the store is closed, you can find local artist Miroslav Lucan (LucanArt)’s take on Yellow Submarine.

4. Back to Fitness

Just past the Crossroads is Back to Fitness, where you can see this image by eccentric Australian artist Sunyata. It was originally used to illustrate a book about how to explain the concept of pain.

5. Gods of the Sea

Just past Ricky’s are the Southbourne Crossroads Public Toilets. These show stopping public toilets have been painted to look like a giant fish tank containing a shipwreck, which can been seen from different perspectives on each side. Entitled Gods of the Sea, it is the work of another local artist, Krishna Malla (aka Tech Moon). The end walls depict the Greek sea god Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite.

The couple are joined by a variety of a marine life, such as sharks, a whale and a turtle.

As the building is on a (traffic) island, you can wander round and round admiring it without risk of being run over. While I was taking photos, several people came over to express their admiration of the murals. I guess this is one place where it’s socially acceptable to hang round public toilets talking to strange men!

6. SoBo Beach

Further along the beach to the east is SoBo Beach. This restaurant/bar is well decorated, courtesy of Kizzi B Creative, including this cool flamingo.

7. Fisherman’s Walk

If you head for the beach, at the bottom of Fisherman’s Walk zigzag, LucanArt’s Role Reversal – a fish trying its hand (or fin) at fishing is in the process of being replaced with something much bigger.

The new artwork is not yet completed, but here is a snap from my most recent walk along the beach…

8. Darren Wiles

Nearby is a new mural dedicated to local metal detectorist Darren Wiles, who has helped reunite over 200 people with jewellery lost on the beach. The piece is by local artist Matthew Byrom.

Climb up the cliff via Fisherman’s Walk Zigzag(or alternatively, take the cliff lift). From here, you can walk through Fisherman’s Walk back to your starting point.

9. Sunflowers

Alternatively, turn left and follow the cliff top for around 0.4 miles until you reach Woodland Walk. Half Way down, at the junction with Beechwood Avenue, you will find the walls of a house adorned by some Sunflowers painted by local artist Tech Moon.

9. Charles Rolls

Another of Byrom’s works can be found if you continue along Belle Vue Road past Southbourne Crossroads. Near the junction with Foxholes road, there is a small footpath to the right (just before the zebra crossing between numbers 247 and 253). Note; it’s quite hard to spot. Also note; it’s quite narrow and gets narrower further along (I took my bike down here and got stuck half way down!) Here, you can find a ceramic portrayal of Charles Rolls by local artist Matthew Byrom. Famous for being half of the company Rolls Royce, Rolls has the unenviable honour of being the first Briton to die in an aeroplane crash. The accident happened at nearby Hengistbury Head and Byrom has produced this piece to commemorate the aviation pioneer and his local connection.

10. Stourfield Schools

Turn onto Foxholes Road and head down Cranleigh Road to reach Stourfield Infant and Junior Schools, where you will see more Tech Moon murals on the school walls, including this cool dude seagull and a beach scene.

• Updated: October 2025

I hope you found this information useful. For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth here.