Henry Hound

In 1987, one of the new attractions at Alton Towers was an animatronic hound dog named Henry. He performed country and western songs at regular intervals in a window in Towers Street. Henry attracted much attention as the technology involved was quite advanced for the time and he was said to look quite realistic by many guests.

Later on, this singing hound dog was renamed Hank, as a new, more cuddly Henry appeared in the park as a costume character, who rapidly became the park’s main mascot. The last of the Talbot Hounds, Henry was descended from the the heraldic hounds of the Earl Of Shrewsbury who once owned the Alton Towers estate. These hounds can be found around the estate in statues, such as at the entrance to Hex.

Over the years Henry appeared, along with his lifelong friend Henrietta, in a variety of entertainment around the park, such as magic shows, ice shows and parades. He even had his own series of books as well as appearing in comic strips in the Wonderful Times, the magazine for the Alton Towers Fun Club.

When Tussauds took over the park Henry received a makeover, as out went his famous yellow T-Shirt to be replaced by a more modest pair of dungarees. But the hound’s days in the park were numbered and Henry left Alton Towers in 1993. Following his departure, his parade was discontinued, Peter Rabbit took over the ice show and the Fun Club continued without a mascot.

For many years Alton Towers went without a mascot, however in 2005 Henry Hound made a triumphant return to the Towers, where the new and improved hound (once again resplendent in his yellow T-Shirt) appeared in the daily carnival. His return was to be short-lived however as he left once again in 2007 and hasn’t been seen since.