Dippy the Dinosaur goes on tour
Have you met Dippy? Once the star attraction of the Natural History Museum, Dippy the dinosaur (diplodocus to be precise) has delighted visitors since he arrived in London in 1905. Now he’s hitting the road for the first time, travelling the length and breadth of the country from 10 February 2018 to late 2020, giving people all over the UK the chance to come and visit him.
LGH are very proud to have won the contract to ensure Dippy and all his precious bits and pieces are lifted safely from A to B!
How does a great gig like that come about? Following determined research from LGH’s Michael Hutchinson, which resulted numerous phone calls and visits to London and a rigorous evaluation process we were awarded the contract.
From there on in the project progressed really fast. LGH had to first organise the equipment to be ready for Dippy to be assembled at his first tour venue, the Dorset county museum, ready for completion by Friday the 10th of February 2018.
The package of equipment we supplied was sourced by our Business Development Manager Gary Joyice, and our Commercial Manager Phil Smith from our various specialist suppliers. This ensured our hire desk manager Vicky Greer and her team had the correct equipment available ready to be delivered on time. This consisted of pallet trucks to get the numerous packing cases containing the various fragile parts of Dippy into the challenging tight space for assembly in the Museum.
LGH supplied a number of Roustabouts, along with bespoke lifting beams to suspend between the Roustabouts which were made especially for the project. Additional equipment supplied included beam trolleys, clamps, manual chain blocks, slings and shackles ready to lift the various delicate dinosaur pieces in to place. Along with numerous hand tools, access equipment and lighting, everything was in place to enable this fantastic piece of history to be assembled by the National History Museum team. Dippy was put together perfectly in his new home where he will remain for the first three months of his tour.
To be involved with and see this amazing project finally come to fruition - for it to go on display at the first venue in Dorchester close to the Jurassic coast, then to be shown nationwide on national TV news - was a fantastic achievement, and something the whole of the team here at Lifting Gear Hire Ltd are really proud to be a part of.
Visit Dippy on Tour:
Dorset County Museum, 10 February - 7 May 2018
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 26 May - 9 September 2018
Ulster Museum, 28 September 2018 - 6 January 2019
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, 22 January - 5 May 2019
Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne, 18 May - 6 October 2019
National Assembly for Wales, 19 October 2019 - 26 January 2020
Number One Riverside, Rochdale, 10 February - 28 June 2020
Norwich Cathedral, 11 July - 31 October 2020
