Dippy the Diplodocus: Details of dinosaur's UK tour announced

The beloved dinosaur cast will make it's first stop in Dorset as it leaves London
David Ellis @dvh_ellis17 November 2016

It was announced in January 2015 that Dippy the Diplodocus, the Natural History Museum’s iconic dinosaur, would be temporarily leaving its home this year, and now the details of its UK tour have been announced.

The 83-foot long cast will make eight stops as it roams Britain, with its first port of call the Dorset County Museum.

It will then head to Birmingham Museum, Ulster Museum, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, the Great North Museum in Newcastle, the National Assembly of Wales and Number One Riverside in Rochdale. Its final stop will be Norwich Cathedral.

It is thought Dippy will stop for around four to six months at each museum, with the entire tour expected to end in late 2020.

Dippy’s last appearance in the entrance hall of the Natural History Museum will be January 4, after which an expert team will prepare him for the journey, a process which could take more than a year.

Museum director Sir Michael Dixon commented: "We wanted Dippy to visit unusual locations so he can draw in people that may not traditionally visit a museum.

"Making iconic items accessible to as many people as possible is at the heart of what museums give to the nation."

Natural History Museum's Dippy the Dinosaur

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The skeleton contains 356 plaster cast bones and was first constructed over 18 months and shipped to England in 36 crates, arriving in 1905. After the tour, it will be given a new home in the Natural History Museum’s grounds.

Dippy is being usurped by the museum’s Blue Whale, another longstanding resident, which has been on display since 1935, and was acquired by the NHM in 1881 for £250.

Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis

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