Building a beastly exhibition
Preparations continue in earnest as Dippy the Diplodocus comes to the capital
ICONIC dinosaur Dippy the Diplodocus has arrived at National Museum Cardiff as part of his UK tour. Usually found at London’s Natural History Museum – and famous for his appearances in One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing and the two Paddington films – Dippy was the world’s first ever rigged dinosaur to go on display back in 1905.
Cast from a near complete Diplodocus skeleton discovered in Wyoming, America, in 1898, the specimen is made up of 292 bones and is an impressive 21.3 metres long, 4.3 metres wide and 4.25 metres high.
Made in 1905, Dippy took up residence inside the London museum’s Hintze Hall in 1979 and in 1993 had his tail raised – in that time it is estimated he has been viewed by more than 90 million visitors.
Since 2018, he’s been touring museums around the UK – and Cardiff is his latest destination.
After a 315-mile trip from Newcastle in 16 crates, a team of experts have carefully put Dippy together in the foyer of the Welsh museum where he’ll stay and be on show to the public from tomorrow, October 19, to Sunday, January 26 .
Lorraine Cornish, who is Head of Conservation at the Natural History Museum, London, said Dippy has certainly caused a buzz across the country while on his tour, as well as here in Cardiff.
She hopes Dippy will encourage visitors to embrace Wales’ natural history.
Lorraine said: “Everywhere we’ve been people have been really excited, at the venue itself and lots of staff and visitors have come and asked questions, and also the locals.
“He’s a fantastic icon to come and visit in any region.
“He lets people really embrace their own natural history adventures and world, so we’re very excited to bring him to Wales.
“Every day all the staff come and peek in the door and ask us how we
are doing – we have lovely balconies here (Cardiff ) and people have been going up and taking photos and videos as we are assembling.”
There’s even a dedicated shop for all things Dippy, including toys and a sequined Dippy cuddly toy, which Lorraine has already had her eye on.
“There is a real buzz,” she added. “And I’ve sneaked into the shop and looked at the products and seen there’s a wonderful sequined Dippy!
“Everyone loves a dinosaur – they’re from the past, they were massive and been in so many films – I think people are fascinated.
“There are generations of people that have had that experience with Dippy.”
As well as being able to marvel at Dippy, National Museum Cardiff visitors can visit the natural history galleries, taking a journey from the very beginnings of time to the present day.
They will also come face-to-face with more dinosaurs, including the Dracoraptor hanigani – the Welsh dinosaur discovered by brothers Nick and Rob Hanigan at Lavernock beach, just eight miles away from National Museum Cardiff.
Pip Diment, Acting Head of Exhibitions, said of Dippy’s arrival: “We’re all very excited here in the museum and look forward to hosting him in the grand hall of National Museum Cardiff.
“He’s been extremely popular at all the previous venues and I’m sure it won’t be any different here in Wales.”
■ For more information visit: museum.wales/dippy