Dippy the Diplodocus is a pretty famous dinosaur. He has spent over 100 years in the Natural History Museum in London (one of my favourite museums I’ve been to) but he’s now out on tour across the UK and he’s up in the North East.
Previously visiting Dorchester, Birmingham, Belfast and Glasgow, Dippy has now arrived in Newcastle. The exhibition opened yesterday and I headed along this morning to see him at Great North Museum: Hancock Newcastle. This is a free, family museum, and tickets to see Dippy are free – but you’re encouraged to book your visiting slot beforehand.
There’s a small chance of some walk up tickets being available, but avoid that disappointment by booking in advance. The next month or so looks pretty busy for weekend viewings so if you’re able to get along on a weekday that’s your best bet. Don’t worry though, Dippy will be in Newcastle until 6 October – so plenty time to check your diary and get yourself along!
The full Diplodocus skeleton is made up of 292 bones and measures 21.3 metres long and 4.25 metres high – incredibly impressive.
A timeline walks through the story of Dippy and our planet with some colourful animations projected on top. There’s a real conscious message within the exhibition about climate change and being aware of what we can do to help save our planet.
I’m not here to preach by any means about climate change, this post is really about Dippy but we can’t get away from the facts and a few of the points featured in the exhibition made me stop and think.
“Earth is 1 degree warmer than it was 160 years ago. If this rate in rising temperatures continues then habitats will change and weather will be more extreme.”
We know the ice caps are melting and this is seriously impacting upon polar life, but cities across the world could be underwater with the rising sea levels, think of that land we will lose, the people who will lose their homes. What will we pass on to the next generation?
“The 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, with 2015-2018 the top four.”
I’m all for a warm day, but within the seasonal ‘norms’ if you like. It was glorious in Australia in their 30+ degree heat but that was normal for their summer, remember that week in February when temperatures reached high teens – that’s not what we expect in Winter and nor should it be something we accept.
I think climate change may be a topic for another post – I know there’s a new David Attenborough series I’m yet to watch on Netflix and I won’t pretend to be fully informed of all the facts, but it’s a definite theme within the exhibition and rightly so.
I really just wanted to share some photos from visiting Dippy today and let any other dinosaur enthusiasts know about his arrival in Newcastle, or perhaps you know some young children who will happily run circles around the skeleton! Myself, as an adult and a big dinosaur fan (you’ll know if you remember this post) I would highly recommend getting along!
Hancock Newcastle also showcases a range of other exhibitions so do take the time to check out the rest of the museum too. I even slept there once under the T Rex – so if you’d like to know more about that, check out this post!
Find out more about #DippyOnTour in Newcastle and book your tickets here.
Don’t forget to make your own Dippy hat, too! Adults that means you too…
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