Just a quick reminder to let you know that Bollocks to Alton Towers came out in paperback this week.
From the same people who brought you the Framley Examiner BtAT is a journey across Britain to find "small, fascinating, unique" days out.
As well as the secret nuclear bunker at Kelvedon, and Walthamstow Borough Council's 'Beckham Trail' the book also feature a real Londonist favourite: the dinosaurs of Crystal Palace: "one of the world's greatest dinosaur parks, don't go expecting tacky Hollywood spectacle, animatronic velociraptors and laser-lit dinoramas."
These models (which we now know to be quite inaccurate) were built by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and installed in 1854 in Sydenham Park following the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The best bit of CP dino trivia is undoubtedly the story that Hawkins' Iguanodon, was so large that he was able to hold a 20 person dinner party in there. Genius.
Thanks to vandalism and the elements the dinosaurs are now in a pretty much constant state of rennovation, so go see them while you can.
The BBC has some great panoramic images of the dinosaurs, and there's some more pictures here, while Brooklyn College's site has quite a bit of info and more pics.
If you want to skip buying Bollocks to Alton Towers and just go straight to a Crystal Park dino book then we can recommend this one.
