Local dino support crew prepares Number One Riverside for Dippy the Dinosaur

Date published: 01 February 2020

Local contractor H Bell and Sons has sent its special ‘dino support crew’ to prepare Number One Riverside for the arrival of Dippy the Dinosaur next week.

Fully trained in how to keep safe with dinosaurs, the support team has laid protective flooring and installed a safe working compound for the National History Museum team to work in whilst they build Dippy.

Spotland Primary School has also provided dinosaur pictures from its classes to decorate the hoarding.

Work to transform Number One Riverside recently began in preparation for the visit, with the interior being decorated with extensive dinosaur-themed decals, including interesting facts about the famous dinosaur.

• rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/132436/number-one-riverside-undergoes-transformation-to-host-famous-dippy-the-dinosaur

Accounts manager of H Bell and Sons, Louise Scott said: “We’re thrilled to be taking part in such a historic event for Rochdale and are really excited for Dippy’s arrival.”

Dippy himself will be constructed over the week of 3-7 February before he goes on display on Monday 10 February.

First displayed in the Natural History Museum in London in 1905, the 21m-long plaster-of-Paris cast of a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton will be at Number One Riverside in Rochdale town centre between 10 February and 28 June 2020.

The famous dinosaur left the museum for the first time in 2017 to embark on a national tour and Rochdale has been selected as one of its stops – the only North West stop on the tour.

Known to millions from its usual home in the Natural History Museum, Dippy – which belongs to a group of dinosaurs called sauropods – will be used as the centrepiece of a display that will highlight local natural history and nature collections.

An accompanying show-stopping exhibition is rapidly taking shape at Touchstones Rochdale, which will feature everything from dinosaur poo and ancient swamplands to a special dinosaur gallery and planetary gallery.

• rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/132571/dinosaur-exhibition-to-mark-dippy-coming-to-rochdale

Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure, is being brought to Number One Riverside and visitors across the UK by the Natural History Museum in partnership with the Garfield Weston Foundation, and supported by Dell EMC and Williams & Hill.

It’s free to see Dippy and visit the Dippy exhibition, but booking is required for schools and groups of 10+ people.

Dippy opens to the public on Monday 10 February.

Opening hours:

• Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm
• Saturday - Sunday: 9.30am - 5pm
• Bank holidays: 10am - 4pm