Tired of London, Tired of Life - A website about things to do in London

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1 April 2011

Visit the Arts and Sciences City

Often overlooked by tourists due to the relative difficulties of getting there from Central London, the Arts and Sciences City, in Dagenham Dock, is a fantastic place for an early April day out. Built on an old floodplain, a short distance from Dagenham Breach, it has for the last few years been threatened with closure due to lack of visitors. Funded by the National Lottery Millennium Commission, it was opened on New Years Eve 1999 by Terry Venables.


Attractions in the park include:

  • The Dame Vera Lynn Hemisphere Project — an Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium, built in the exact shape of the vocal chords of the popular local wartime singer

  • The HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Museum of Science, an interactive museum of science, built to resemble the shape of the face of one of those funny-looking foreigners

  • The London wildlife experience, a landscaped zoological walk displaying animals and plants indigenous to London, including the crack squirrel, the man eating fox and the marmite badger.


  • Other features include a large aquarium built in the shape of a water-boatman, which is one of the largest in the world at 110,000 square meters, and contains 42 million litres of water, and a waxwork museum of local heroes, including John Terry, Alf Ramsey, Billy Bragg and Max Bygraves.

    Entry to the park is £45, and it is open on Sundays from 3pm until 5pm. The nearest station is Dagenham Dock. For more information, click here.

    3 comments:

    1. I was gob-smacked until I got to the £45 bit. Even though I live less than ten miles from there I had never heard of it. Got me hook, line and sinker! Very funny!
      Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

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    2. fooled me too :)

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    3. Sorry, guys. I just couldn't resist the opportunity.

      I actually had this post ready months ago, too, and then let another one go up yesterday morning briefly without realising what day it was.

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