Dippy the Diplodocus is on the move

Have you ever spotted a dinosaur in a cathedral, a parliament or a community centre? Dippy is coming to a town near you.

Never before on public display outside of London, Dippy will travel the length and breadth of the country from early 2018 to late 2020. The British icon is on a mission to inspire five million natural history adventures, encouraging families and schools to explore nature on their doorstep.

Dippy, has delighted visitors since he arrived in London in 1905. With generous support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, the tour will spark the imagination of the next generation of scientists and connect the nation with nature.

Philippa Charles, Director of the Garfield Weston Foundation, says:

'Generations of children have been awestruck by Dippy’s spectacular presence at the heart of the Natural History Museum and we hope he continues to inspire the nation to rediscover nature as he works his way round the UK.

'Everyone at the Foundation is looking forward to seeing Dippy take pride of place in all the different venues, and seeing children inspired to explore the wildlife around them.'

Dippy will visit Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and five regions across England. In chronological order, Dippy will be on show at: Dorset County Museum, Birmingham Museum, Ulster Museum, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Glasgow, Great North Museum Newcastle, National Museum Cardiff, Number One Riverside Rochdale, and Norwich Cathedral.

Each partner will use Dippy’s visit to showcase their local nature and natural history collections, forging new partnerships between regional cultural, scientific and wildlife organisations.

Dippy’s journey across the UK will follow the grand sweep of geological time. The tour begins on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, and ends in Norwich exploring how we may secure a sustainable future. Along the way, Dippy will draw attention to the rich array of past and present UK biodiversity.

Director of the Dorset County Museum, Dr Jon Murden, says: 'We are so excited to be welcoming Dippy on Tour here in 2018 at the heart of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. As the birthplace of palaeontology, there is nowhere in the UK more appropriate for Dippy to start the tour than Dorset, and we’re thrilled to have been chosen as the first host venue.

'There are connections to be made between our internationally significant fossil collections and current coastal management, and therefore we’re delighted to be working in partnership on this tour with the Jurassic Coast Team and Trust.'

The full skeleton in its displayed pose is an impressive 21.3 metres long, 4.3 metres wide and 4.25 metres high. A total of 90 venues responded to the open-call for potential partners in 2015.

'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, so we have ensured that Dippy will still be free to view at all tour venues.

'Working with our eight partners we look forward to inspiring five million natural history adventures and, encouraging children from across the country to develop a passion for science and nature. Few museum objects are better known - surely no one object better evokes the awesome diversity of species that have lived on Earth?' says Sir Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum.

Dinosaur fans can wish Dippy luck on his journey by taking part in the Museum’s ‘Dinosaur Season’ events in South Kensington until the end of December 2016, including a special New Year’s Eve Party in Hintze Hall. Dippy’s last day on show in London will be 4 January 2017. Conservators will take the next 12 months to prepare the delicate plaster-of-Paris cast for its journey.

In summer 2017 a diving Blue Whale skeleton will take centre stage as part of a reimagining of the grand Hintze Hall. The Blue Whale’s story represents our responsibility for both pushing a living species to the brink of extinction but also our responsibility for its protection and recovery.

Dippy and the Blue Whale are different parts of the same epic, inspiring story - the history of life on planet Earth.

Ends

This press release was updated on 26 April 2018 when it was announced that the venue in Wales would be National Museum Cardiff rather than the National Assembly for Wales.

Notes for editors
Media contact: Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5654/ (0) 779 969 0151 Email: press@nhm.ac.uk
Download images and video: https://nhm.box.com/s/ayiq3skbl6p5wiitac1ejkcxhqa8vzfa
Download Dippy information and biographies: https://nhm.box.com/s/pyd4xxoh7yax11yxn1bhu6vqfh152snr
Images provided for one time editorial use only, providing copyright is credited.

• The Natural History Museum welcomes more than five million visitors a year and is a world-leading science research centre. Through its unique collection and unrivalled expertise it is tackling the biggest challenges facing the world today. It helps enable food security, eradicate disease and manage resource scarcity. It is studying the diversity of life and the delicate balance of ecosystems to ensure the survival of our planet. nhm.ac.uk
• The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded charitable grant-making foundation which supports a wide range of causes across the UK, donating over £58million in the most recent financial year. It was established in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston and since then has donated over £900million, becoming one of the largest and most respected charitable institutions in the UK. While the Foundation funds across a broad range of categories the underlying ethos remains consistent – to support charities with talented people and effective ways to meet a clear need. garfieldweston.org
• Rochdale Borough Council is a local authority in the North West of England which serves more than 200,000 residents. Sitting in the foothills of the Pennines and close to the major cities of Manchester and Leeds, the council is playing a key role in the Northern Powerhouse, and its priorities are people, place and prosperity. Link4Life is the Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust, delivering leisure and cultural provision across the Rochdale borough, including the award-winning arts and heritage centre, Touchstones Rochdale. rochdale.gov.uk
• Come face to face with dinosaurs, meet an Ancient Egyptian Mummy and see modern masterpieces with a visit to the Ulster Museum. As Northern Ireland’s treasure house of the past and present, the museum is home to a rich collection of art, history and natural sciences and free to all visitors. The Ulster Museum, part of National Museums Northern Ireland, welcomes nearly half a million visitors annually.  nmni.com/um
• Birmingham Museums Trust is an independent charity that manages the city’s museum collection and venues on behalf of Birmingham City Council.  It uses the collection of around 800,000 objects to provide a wide range of arts, cultural and historical experiences, events and activities that deliver accessible learning, creativity and enjoyment for citizens and visitors to the city. Attracting over one million visits a year, the Trust’s venues include Aston Hall, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Blakesley Hall, Museum Collections Centre, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Sarehole Mill, Soho House, Thinktank and Weoley Castle. birminghammuseums.org.uk
• Glasgow Life is the charity which runs services and facilities on behalf of Glasgow City Council. We work in every area of the city and with every community to try and inspire Glasgow’s citizens and visitors to lead richer and more active lives through culture, sport and learning. More than 18 million attendances were recorded to the facilities that we run across the city between 2015 and 2016. Glasgow Museums is the largest museum service in the UK outside London and operates nine easy to reach, accessible and family friendly venues across the city.  We are open year-round and entry is free. Glasgow Museums house an extraordinary permanent collection of fine art, historic objects and natural history exhibited in some of Glasgow’s most stunning public buildings. glasgowlife.org.uk
• Great North Museum: Hancock is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums on behalf of Newcastle University. The Museum brings together the North East’s premier collections of archaeology, natural history, geology and world cultures under one roof. It incorporates collections from the original Hancock Museum, Newcastle University’s former Museum of Antiquities and the Shefton Museum. The Great North Museum is a partnership between Newcastle University, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, Newcastle City Council, the Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN) and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne (SANT). greatnorthmuseum.org.uk
• Dorset County Museum is one of the leading independent, charitable, heritage organisations in the Southwest of England. It has a learned Society with 2000 members and receives over 47,000 visitors a year. Its diverse collections contain over 4 million objects including internationally significant geology, archaeology and literary collections. The Museum is a registered charity and operates independently with financial support from Dorset County Council and West Dorset District Council.  In May 2015 the Museum was awarded £9.9 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable an ambitious redevelopment project. dorsetcountymuseum.org
• The Jurassic Coast was designated a World Heritage Site in 2001. Day to day site management, and delivery of the Management Plan, is the work of the Jurassic Coast Team, supported in the main by Dorset and Devon County Councils, and the Jurassic Coast Trust, the charity which funds and inspires conservation, understanding and community engagement. jurassiccoast.org
• Norwich Cathedral is a Christian presence in the heart of Norfolk and the Diocese of Norwich. It began, over 900 years ago, as the Cathedral church of a Benedictine Monastery, built to inspire by its sheer size and magnificence. The Cathedral continues to fill today’s visitors with a sense of awe and wonder. The primary purpose of a Cathedral is to be a place of Christian worship. It was at the centre of the monastery and the focus of the monks’ most important work, the worship of God. Norwich Cathedral is also the focus of both city and county life. As well as playing host to special civic and legal services, it is also a venue for concerts, talks, exhibitions, degree ceremonies and other community events. cathedral.org.uk
• The National Assembly for Wales is working in collaboration with the National Museum of Wales to deliver Dippy on Tour. It is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people, makes laws for Wales and holds the Welsh Government to account. The Senedd, as the home of the National Assembly for Wales, is the place where the 60 elected Assembly Members debate issues that affect life in Wales - like health, education, the environment and transport. The Senedd is a public building so it’s free to visit and watch Assembly Members in action. assembly.wales