Make no bones about it... Dippy is the dinosaur everyone wants to see
THIS is the incredible sight that will greet visitors at the Ulster Museum over the coming weeks.
Dippy the Diplodocus — the UK’s most famous dinosaur — goes on public display today after nearly two years of huge anticipation.
Standing four metres high and 26 metres in length, he will be on show for the next three months.
And Dippy, who is on loan from London’s National History Museum as part of a three-year UK-wide tour, is already proving a huge draw.
Such is the level of interest in the skeleton, a plaster cast replica of an original fossilised diplodocus unearthed in the US in 1898, that around 20,000 pre-bookings have already been made.
Speaking on the eve of the official opening, Aaron Ward, head of creative engagement at the Ulster Museum, said Dippy was their biggest draw — in every respect.
“There’s lots of inspiring things going on at the museum, but not quite as big, literally, as Dippy,” he said.
The museum saw off stiff competition to be chosen as the venue for the exhibit.
Aaron said he was anticipating a big boost to museum figures from people coming to see the free display.
“We’re expecting to see 120,000 visitors from September to January next year, which is three times as many people through the doors,” he added.
“We want to bring in a new audience to the museum.”
He added that the arrival of Dippy, whose biggest ribs are nearly two metres long, brought back fond childhood memories of his own visit to a dinosaur exhibition at the museum.
He also enjoyed seeing the reaction of his sons, Hayden (7) and Flynn (4).
“It’s been like Christmas for my four-year-old, who has spent the last few weeks asking: ‘When’s Dippy coming, when’s Dippy coming?’
“They came in and they loved it, and loved playing with the other interactive displays as well.”
The Belfast stop is the only chance that dinosaur fans anywhere in Ireland will get to see Dippy in its first trip across the Irish Sea.
It was originally shipped across the Atlantic in 1905 by Scottish industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who was asked to create a replica for Dippy at the request of the future King Edward VII.
Since then Dippy has resided at the Natural History Museum, where he is its biggest draw.
Now, though, he’s on the road, with Belfast the third stop of his eight-venue tour, having already been on display in Dorset and Birmingham.
At Birmingham he attracted more than 255,000 visitors.
And getting him to Belfast was a painstaking process, according to Lorraine Cornish, head of conservation at the Natural History Museum.
“Dippy was transported on a ferry from Liverpool, and thankfully it was a nice, clear crossing,” she said.
“He was packed into 13 crates. At the museum it took six days, a team of 10 people working eight hours a day, to reconstruct him.”
But she stressed it was all worth it to see the look of amazement on children’s faces.
“It’s so exciting for them. We had some children in earlier this week to see Dippy and they had a great time,” she added.
There were audible “oohs” and “ahhs” from excited primary four and five pupils from Botanic Primary School, who got to experience a sneak preview of Dippy yesterday.
Eight-year-old Christopher Killen said it was the second time he was seeing Dippy, but he loved the fact it was now in Belfast.
“When I was in London when I was three I got to see him then, but it was just as exciting to see him today,” he said.
Classmate Nadia (9) said she had been impressed by the sheer size of the mighty prehistoric beast.
“He’s the biggest dinosaur that I’ve ever seen. He’s gigantic,” she added.
On hand to explain what Dippy was like when he roamed the Earth around 150 million years ago was palaeontologist Dr Susannah Maidment.
“Dippy was a plant eater and would not have been a fast runner,” she said.
“He would have been slow and rumbling along.”
Urging people to come along and see the exhibit, Dr Maidment said that when Dippy was alive all those millenia ago he would have weighed the equivalent of 10 cars.
“I think he’s amazing,” she added.
“I remember seeing him as a child, and Dippy’s a great way to get children interested in natural sciences.”