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The world famous Diplodocus dinosaur cast from the Natural History Museum is on a national tour and he'll arrive in Rochdale, his only North West stop, in February 2020. Dippy will be wowing visitors in Rochdale from 10 February to 28 June 2020.

How to book

You can book your tickets through our online booking system. Your ticket to Meet Dippy at Number One Riverside automatically includes your entry to the Dippy experience at Touchstones Rochdale.

Book your school visit

A unique opportunity for Rochdale schoolchildren

As Dippy is a once in a lifetime opportunity to inspire the next generation of scientists, we've given children in the borough of Rochdale priority booking. This means we released tickets to our local schools before we extended the opportunity to schools across the wider region.

We advise schools to book early to avoid disappointment.
The event is free to attend.

What to expect on your school visit

A unique event – 2 experiences in one. Schoolchildren can look forward to a double dino adventure, with 2 separate natural history adventures to enjoy, Meet Dippy and visit the Dippy exhibition.

We highly recommend schools Meet Dippy and visit the Dippy exhibition for a full experience as they both offer a fantastic educational experience. The event is FREE and you'll be expected to manage your time as there is no guided tour.

Meet Dippy at Number One Riverside: pupils will start their visit by seeing Dippy himself at the council's office building, customer service centre and library, Number One Riverside.

Accompanying Dippy in Number One Riverside will include:

Downloadable science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) focussed content to enable schools to guide themselves around the exhibition and understand the significance of Dippy and the supporting themes of evolution, biodiversity and sustainable futures.
There will also be a selection of pre and post visit activities so you can design your own Dippy experience. All resources will have clear curricular links and be designed to encourage creativity, scientific investigation and curiosity.
You can access a range of free cross-curriculum learning resources for teachers and home educators, helping 4-11 year-olds explore the natural world both now and in the time of the dinosaurs. Take part in the Dippy on Tour Natural History Adventure (external link).
There will be hands on activities in our educational spaces.

Dippy Exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale: once you've been wowed by meeting Dippy, take a short (approximately 0.4 mile) walk across Rochdale town centre to our local museum and art gallery, Touchstones Rochdale, for the next instalment of your Dippy adventure. At Touchstones Rochdale, there will be 3 galleries packed with exciting interactive exhibits that will complement the Dippy experience and extend scientific enquiry into the supporting themes.

We estimate you'll spend up to 1 hour at each venue. Both Number One Riverside and Touchstones Rochdale will have an on-site Dino store selling Dippy goodies, as well as a café.

Getting here

We've information on various transport methods including public transport and coach and minibus parking.

If you're a school group of 10 or more students and travel by Metrolink, you can take advantage of tickets for £1 per child.

Find out how to get here

Frequently Asked Questions

We advise you to read all Frequently Asked Questions in the sections for schools, groups and visitors.

View Frequently Asked Questions for schools - dates available, what happens when you get here and more.
View Frequently Asked Questions for groups - booked the wrong date, cancel a booking and more.
View Frequently Asked Questions for visitors - getting to the venue, food and drink and more.

Inspiration

School FAQs

Details of how schools can book, what they need to know and more.
Dippy weighed 20,000kg - the same as 13 cars!!
Visit Dippy

When and where to see Dippy as well as the latest news and announcements.
Getting here

Everything you need to know about travelling to Rochdale.
Discover

Discover the Dippy Experience. Image: the Diplodocus exhibit with children at the Natural History Museum, London.
Dippy is a herbivorous dinosaur from the Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago
About the area

The borough of Rochdale is made up of 4 townships areas - Rochdale, Middleton, Heywood and the Pennine villages.
Donate

Help us inspire the next generation of scientists by donating to the Dippy legacy project.

Number of results: 36

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The Dippy Experience - FEATURED EVENT

Address

Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, OL16 1XU

Rochdale

Visitors to Rochdale, Dippy's only North West stop, can enjoy 2 dinosaur adventures as part of their visit and they're both free. Image: the Diplodocus exhibit with children at the Natural History Museum, London.

Dates

From:

10 Feb 2020to28 June 2020Various Opening Times

From:

10 Feb 2020to28 June 2020Various Opening Times

More Details
ZooLab - Build a Dinosaur

Address

Rochdale Borough Libraries

A voyage of discovery into how animal senses have adapted and how animal characteristics have evolved.

Dates

From:
25 Feb 2020Open 15:00 - 16:00
From:
28 Feb 2020Open 15:00 - 16:00

More Details
Everything Dinosaur Workshop

Address

Rochdale Borough Libraries

A dinosaur and fossil workshop with the chance to get 'hands on' with real fossils.

Dates

From:
14 Mar 2020Open 09:15 - 11:45
From:
14 Mar 2020Open 13:00 - 15:30
From:
21 Mar 2020Open 09:15 - 11:45
From:
21 Mar 2020Open 13:00 - 15:30

More Details
NatureEd - Fun with Fossils

Address

Rochdale Borough Libraries

Hands-on fun with fossils, ferns and dinosaur footprints.

Dates

From:
25 Feb 2020Open 11:00 - 12:00
From:
25 Feb 2020Open 14:00 - 15:00
From:
27 Feb 2020Open 11:00 - 12:00
From:
27 Feb 2020Open 14:00 - 15:00

More Details
Pond dipping and dancing damselfies

Address

Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre, Lake Bank, Littleborough, OL15 0DQ

Littleborough

Join NatureEd for some hands-on wildlife fun. We’ll also be making dancing damselflies to take home.

Dates

From:
29 May 2020Various Opening Times

More Details
Loose Parts Play Session

Address

Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale, OL16 1XU

Rochdale

Come and join us to play with a range of materials that will inspire your little one’s creativity and imagination.

Dates

From:
12 Feb 2020Various Opening Times
From:
19 Feb 2020Various Opening Times
From:
4 Mar 2020Various Opening Times
From:
11 Mar 2020Various Opening Times
From:
18 Mar 2020Various Opening Times
From:
25 Mar 2020Various Opening Times
From:
22 Apr 2020Various Opening Times
From:
29 Apr 2020Various Opening Times
From:
6 May 2020Various Opening Times
From:
13 May 2020Various Opening Times
From:
20 May 2020Various Opening Times
From:
27 May 2020Various Opening Times
From:
3 June 2020Various Opening Times
From:
17 June 2020Various Opening Times

More Details
Green travel day

Address

Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre, Lake Side, Littleborough, OL15 0DQ

Telephone
01706 370499

Littleborough

A day packed with different activities learning about energy required for different modes of travel across the lake.

Dates

From:
27 May 2020Open 10:00 - 15:00

More Details
Mini Monkey Yoginis

Address

Heywood Civic Centre, L/Cpl Stephen Shaw MC Way, Heywood, OL10 1LW

Heywood

Bend, stretch and balance in this fun yoga session based on all of your favourite animals of the world.

Dates

From:
28 May 2020Open 13:00 - 14:30

More Details
Build a boat and learn to sail

Address

Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre, Lake Bank, Littleborough, OL15 0DQ

Telephone
01706 370499

Littleborough

Design and make a boat from clean waste and see if it floats.

Dates

From:
8 Apr 2020Open 10:00 - 15:00
From:
15 Apr 2020Open 10:00 - 15:00

More Details
Active coding workshops

Address

Littleborough Sports Centre, Calderbrook Road, Littleborough, OL15 0DQ

Littleborough

Come and join this active and interactive session and learn about coding whilst designing your own games, movements and other fun activities.

Dates

From:
7 Apr 2020Open 12:00 - 15:00
From:
14 Apr 2020Open 12:00 - 15:00
From:
17 Apr 2020Open 12:00 - 15:00

More Details
The Ugly Animal Preservation Society

Address

Touchstones Rochdale, The Esplanade, Rochdale, OL16 1AQ

Telephone
0161 924492

Rochdale

This FREE event is a fun and engaging celebration of the incredible biology of the animal kingdom’s most monstrous creatures.

Dates

From:
24 Feb 2020Open 11:00 - 15:00

More Details
Bookstart Bear Club with Irene Peachey

Address

Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale, OL16 1XU

Rochdale

FREE Bookstart Bear sessions for under 5s and their grown-ups with a dinosaur twist.

Dates

From:

10 Feb 2020to30 June 2020Various Opening Times

More Details
Quiet time with Dippy

Address

Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale, OL16 1XU

Rochdale

Quiet time with Dippy. Suitable for children and adults with sensory needs.

Dates

From:
27 Feb 2020Open 17:30 - 19:30
From:
19 Mar 2020Open 17:30 - 19:30
From:
23 Apr 2020Open 17:30 - 19:30
From:
14 May 2020Open 17:30 - 19:30
From:
28 May 2020Open 17:30 - 19:30
From:
18 June 2020Open 17:30 - 19:30

More Details
Dinosaur treasure hunt (by bike)

Address

Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre, Lake Side, Littleborough, OL15 0DQ

Telephone
01706 370499

Littleborough

If you want to hunt some dinosaur treasure on a bike rather than foot then this is the hunt for you.

Dates

From:
26 Feb 2020Open 10:30 - 12:00

More Details
What a load of rubbish

Address

Littleborough Sports Centre, Calderbrook Road, Littleborough, OL15 0DQ

Telephone
01706 927560

Littleborough

Learn how to turn your everyday rubbish into everyday treasures.

Dates

From:

26 May 2020to29 May 2020Various Opening Times

More Details
Dinky Dino Yoginis

Address

Heywood Civic Centre, LCpl Stephen Shaw MC Way, Heywood, OL10 1LW

Telephone
0300 303 8633

Heywood

A fun yoga session based on all of your favourite dinosaurs.

Dates

From:
27 Feb 2020Open 13:00 - 14:30

More Details
Craig Bradley (That Poetry Bloke) - Dinosaur Poetry Workshop

Address

Various Rochdale Borough Libraries

A creative, dinosaur inspired workshop where children will be able to write, and then perform, their very own dinosaur lyrics with expert guidance.

Dates

From:
25 May 2020Open 11:00 - 12:00
From:
25 May 2020Open 14:00 - 15:00
From:
28 May 2020Open 11:00 - 12:00
From:
28 May 2020Open 14:00 - 15:00

More Details
Prehistoric garden

Address

Rochdale Town Hall Square, The Esplanade, Rochdale, OL16 1AB

Rochdale

To celebrate Dippy’s visit to Rochdale in 2020, we’ve created a garden that showcases some of the plants that were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Dates

From:

25 Sept 2019to28 June 2020

More Details
Prehistoric bog garden at Truffet Park

Address

Truffet Park, Bowness Road, Langley, Middleton, M24 4WT

Langley, Middleton

Step back in time with our prehistoric bog gardens.

Dates

From:

25 Sept 2019to28 June 2020

More Details
Prehistoric bog garden at Queen's Park

Address

Queen's Park, 158 Queen's Park Road, Heywood, OL10 4UY

Heywood

Step back in time with our prehistoric bog garden.

Dates

From:

25 Sept 2019to28 June 2020

More Details

TWITTER UPDATES

DippyOnTour

Diplodocus carnegii

Diolch o galon i’n tîm prysur o wirfoddolwyr Dippy on Tour, am rannu eich amser a’ch gwybodaeth er mwyn ysbrydoli y… https://t.co/pjtbkNKkRz

24 Jan 2020 15:34:34

RT @rhosstreet: The final activity was a visit to @Museum_Cardiff where we learnt a lot about the natural world and met a dinosaur.… https://t.co/QLQ9qMuJKc

24 Jan 2020 14:16:48

RT @HTPS_MrsMoore: Dosbarth Ogmore had so much fun visiting Dippy the dinosaur at @Museum_Cardiff this morning 🦕🦖 @HTPSchool… https://t.co/rttsY1VFdi

24 Jan 2020 14:15:40

@Museum_Cardiff 5) TI! Y peth gorau am Gaerdydd heb os yw'r holl bobl anhygoel dwi wedi cwrdd â nhw. Fydda i yma t… https://t.co/Pfg1YK2Vij

24 Jan 2020 13:51:01

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How to book

A unique opportunity for Rochdale schoolchildren

What to expect on your school visit

Getting here

Frequently Asked Questions

Inspiration

Dippy weighed 20,000kg - the same as 13 cars!!

Dippy is a herbivorous dinosaur from the Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago

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TWITTER UPDATES

DippyOnTour

Diplodocus carnegii