The Natural History Museum’s iconic dinosaur, Dippy will continue his infamous tour, and will be appearing in Rochdale, this year.
Dippy has left the museum for the first time to go on a tour of the UK, and his next stop is Rochdale, his only North West stop, where he will take pride of place in Number One Riverside.
Who is Dippy? I hear you ask. Dippy is a replica of the Diplodocus, a herbivorous dinosaur from the Jurassic period.
He came to be after fossils of the original Diplodocus were found by workmen in Wyoming, USA in 1898 and the famous Scottish philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, decided to fund a full expedition to unearth the whole skeleton. The skeleton was then displayed in Carnegie’s Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Not that long after the unveiling, Carnegie was entertaining King Edward VII at Skibo Castle where spotted a photograph of the diplodocus and told his host how much he would like one for the Natural History Museum. Carnegie decided to commission a replica – Dippy, who has been wowing visitors to the museum since 1905.
Number One Riverside will also be hosting and exciting activity for both young and old, called Natural History Adventures, organised to coincide with Dippy’s visit to Rochdale. And will be giving visitors the chance to delve deeper into the natural world with a dino-tastic family-friendly exhibition, including prehistoric swampland, which will depict Rochdale as it was 150 million years ago.
You can meet Dippy at Rochdale’s Number One Riverside between February 10 and June 28 and visit the Dippy Exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale. The exhibit will include two dinosaur adventures as part of your visit and they are both completely free – sign us up now!