Visitors to two Oxfordshire museums could be forgiven for thinking they had stepped into Jurassic Park on Tuesday as they got up close and personal with a Segnosaurus and baby Triceratops.
The impressive beasts, who are two of the stars of Dinosaur World, went for a walkabout at The Oxfordshire Museum, in Woodstock, and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, in Parks Road ahead of performing at the New Theatre Oxford next month.
During the morning, the Segnosaurus visited the Dinosaur Garden at The Oxfordshire Museum, where it found Jurassic plants and the 168-million-year-old dinosaur footprints excavated from Ardley Quarry in Oxfordshire, and a life-size Megalosaurus, alongside dozens of excited families.
Carol Anderson, Museums Service Manager at the museum, said the visiting families were delighted and surprised to encounter a dinosaur having come to see the dinosaur footprints.
“The families thoroughly enjoyed seeing two dinosaurs come face-to-face!”
The puppets then stomped their way in to the centre of Oxford to the world-famous historical institution, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, where they found skeletons of their ancestors, including the towering T-rex and a Triceratops skull.
Carly Smith-Huggins, Family Education Officer at the museum, said the event had been brilliant for those exploring the exhibits.
Founded in 1860 as the centre for scientific study at the University of Oxford, the Museum of Natural History now holds the University’s internationally significant collections of natural history specimens and includes displays on the evolution of primates, the diversity of insects, and the geological history of the Earth.
Dinosaur World, which is at the New Theatre from August 24 – 26, is a brand-new dino-mite, interactive family adventure live on stage. It is an entertaining and mind-expanding Jurassic adventure, where you can meet a host of impressive creatures, including every child’s favourite flesh-eating giant, the Tyrannosaurus rex, a Triceratops, Giraffatitan and Segnosaurus, to name a few.
As part of the run, the New Theatre has teamed up with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to provide a roar-some day for families. In addition to seeing the dinosaurs live on stage, you can also book tickets for a Dino-tour of the Museum, where you have the chance to go behind the scenes to learn about palaeontology and Oxford’s dinosaurs. There’s also a chance to see real fossil specimens.
Tickets for Dinosaur World and the Dino Tour can be purchased from the New Theatre Box Office on George Street, by ringing 0844 871 3020 or by visiting our website at www.atgtickets.com/oxford (phone and internet bookings subject to booking/transaction fee. Calls are charged at up to 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.).
