---
title: "Triceratops Blocks Road in England"
description: "Sweden’s moose test is wimpy compared to the Isle of Wight’s dino test."
date: "2016-02-16"
modified: "2016-02-16"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/2197/triceratops-blocks-road-in-england"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "england"
---

# Triceratops Blocks Road in England

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/021616-godshilla-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Drivers passing down the town of Godshill on the Isle of Wight on the night of February 12 found themselves face-to-flank with a rather unusual roadblock: a very large *Triceratops horridus*.

Sadly for those of us who were hoping John Hammond had a secret lab off the coast of England, the Triceratops—[which goes by the name “Godshilla”](<https://www.facebook.com/godshilla/?fref=photo>)—was a life-size model belonging to Godshill merchant Martin Simpson, who owns local mineral and fossil emporium Island Gems and, by his own website’s admission, [is known as “The Fossil Man.”](<https://www.island-gems.co.uk/fossil_man.html>)

Normally, the triceratops stands guard in front of his store, but Simpson said he suspects pranksters moved the giant trike into the middle of the adjacent road, High Street. “It must have taken five hefty lads to move it,” [he told The Isle of Wight’s *County Press*](<https://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/pranksters-block-off-isle-of-wight-road-with-dinosaur-94032.aspx>).

As one might expect in this day and age, reports of the ceratopsian jaywalker quickly began blowing up social media.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1

https://twitter.com/_/status/698584307871440897

The Triceratops was moved quickly back to its usual resting place, before it turned the road into a Jurassic parking lot.

![ezgif-4139298984.gif](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/ezgif-4139298984.gif>)

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)