Topsy and Tim meet the Crystal Palace dinosaurs

A whole bag of vintage Topsy and Tim books came into the Oxfam bookshop the other day. Originally published in the 1960s by Jean and Gareth Adamson, the twins went on to have more than 130 adventures, with the series being relaunched in 2003. There has also been two TV adaptations.

I didn’t look through all the books but the cover of Topsy and Tim Meet the Monsters grabbed my attention as I wondered, where could they be riding a dinosaur except in Crystal Palace? My suspicion proved correct, and though mum drives them to the park and takes them up to the dinosaurs, she leaves them in the hands of two artists and isn’t seen again. The artists row the twins over the lake to the dinosaurs where they proceed to paint them. The 1970s, right?