Bamford & Norden August 2021

Roarsome Dino Garden
moves to Denehurst Park
Visitors to Denehurst Park might soon get a prehistoric surprise
as a terrific T-Rex dinosaur garden is unveiled, but not before revealing
a hidden surprise of its own.
The garden was first installed in Rochdale
Town centre by the side of the Gracie
Fields statue and played a starring role in
Rochdale’s North-West in Bloom, welcoming
the famous Diplodocus cast – Dippy from
the Natural History Museum in London which
has been touring the UK since 2018.
Dippy appeared at Number One Riverside
in February last year, alongside the
accompanying exhibition at Touchstones
Rochdale - the seventh of his eight stop
UK tour.
Hidden deep amongst the foliage sat a
duck’s nest, complete with eggs.
Unfortunately, during its time in Rochdale,
the exhibition was unable to open for the
whole run due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite that, the famous cast still proved a
smash hit in the North West, welcoming tens
of thousands of visitors.
With maintenance works now taking place at
the Town Hall, it was time for the T-Rex and
garden to make a move, but the council’s
landscape team uncovered more than just
plants which delayed the relocation.
Council staff quickly took action, securing the
garden and replanting plants to ensure the
duck and her eggs were safe and well hidden.
The nest was closely monitored over the
incubation period of approximately 28 days.
After a few worrying weeks, the nest was
found empty apart from some feather and
approximately 12 empty eggshells. It appears
the ducks made their way from the garden
to the River Roch, managing to avoid passersby
and the watchful eyes of the peregrine
falcons perched above at the Town Hall
clock tower.
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