Get ready for a dinosaur road trip as Dippy the Diplodocus comes to Birmingham.

Never before on public display outside of London, Dippy will travel the length and breadth of the country from early 2018 to late 2020, stopping at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery for four months as part of the tour.

The British icon is on a mission to inspire five million natural history adventures, encouraging families to explore nature on their doorstep.

Dippy, has delighted visitors since he arrived in London in 1905. With generous support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, the tour will spark the imagination of the next generation of scientists and connect the nation with nature.

The showcase in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will see Dippy arrive at the Gas Hall on 17th May 2018 as part of a wider exhibition which will celebrate and display Birmingham and the West Midland’s natural science collections.

The full skeleton in its displayed pose is an impressive 21.3 metres long, 4.3 metres wide and 4.25 metres high. The exhibition will situate Dippy within a timeline of life on Earth, and aims to encourage visitors to consider their impact on the future environment, by asking them to think in new ways about the natural world, past and present. Dr Ellen McAdam, Director of Birmingham Museums Trust, said:

"I remember encountering Dippy on my first visit to London at the age of 11, when I was fascinated equally by fossils and mummies. I am thrilled that we are now able to bring the most famous dinosaur cast in Britain to Birmingham.

“Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is the only venue to host Dippy the in the Midlands. We look forward to showcasing this great specimen to dinosaur-fanciers of all ages and inspiring the next generation of palaeontologists in the region.”

A total of 90 venues responded to the open-call for potential partners in 2015. 

Each partner will use Dippy’s visit to showcase their local nature and natural history collections, forging new partnerships between regional cultural, scientific and wildlife organisations.

Dippy’s journey across the UK will follow the grand sweep of geological time. The tour begins on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, and ends in Norwich exploring how we may secure a sustainable future. Along the way, Dippy will draw attention to the rich array of past and present UK biodiversity.

Dippy’s last day on show in London will be 4 January 2017. Conservators will take the next 12 months to prepare the delicate plaster-of-Paris cast for its journey.