In the late 1980's Henry's parade was introduced to the park, at 3pm daily a host of wonderfully decorated floats would start their journey
in front of the towers, each one staring a member of Henry's family
or Henry himself.
The parade went
through various incarnations over the years opening as Henry's
Birthday Parade in 1988 (celebrating the park's Diamond Jubilee).
The eight floats which took part in this parade were:
The Bandstand Float
The opening float was lead by Conductor Henry and contained a
full brass band.
Pirate
Ship
Next up came Captain Henry on his pirate ship float, based on
the popular Fantasy World ride.
The Pagoda The Gardens were represented in the parade by a float
featuring the Pagoda Fountain and 'Henry' Talbot.
Swan Boat
Swan Princess Henrietta stared on this float based on the
iconic Swan Boat Ride.
Piazza This float was designed to look like the open air
theatre located between the Towers and Festival Park. It
featured Red Sun, the in park band.
Aqualand
River Rider Henry, complete with raincoat starred on this float,
which saw his Grand Canyon Rapid boat narrowly avoiding a whale.
Circus
The Circus float contain live acrobats and clowns, as well a
Ringmaster Henry
Birthday Cake
The final float was a giant birthday cake topped with Henry
Hound to celebrate the park's jubilee.
The parade operated
again in 1989, but now it was the Festival Parade as it was no
longer the park's birthday, although the Birthday Cake float still
remained.
The
line up for the Festival Parade was almost identical to that of
the Birthday Paraded, only now the Swan Boat float had gone,
being replaced by a float representing the new Britannia Farm,
featuring Farmer Henry.
After Tussaud's
took over the park in 1990 the parade became know as Henry's Grand
Parade. New floats added during this period included a Fun Club
float, as well as reportedly floats for the new Haunted House and
Runaway Mine Train rides. Fun Club members were sometimes invited
to come and ride the Fun Club Float with Henry.
Henry's Parade did
not survive the departure of it's mascot, and were discontinued at
the end of the 1993 season, when the Henry Hound left the park.
Conductor Henry
The
Bandstand Float in 1990
The
Bandstand Float by the
Mississippi Showboat
The
Pirate Ship float
with Captain Henry
Henrietta on the Swan Boat float
The
Piazza, Circus and Pagoda Floats heading towards Towers Street.
Henry
on top of the Birthday Cake float
Farmer Henry by the windmill on the Britannia Farm float
The Fun Club Float, with Bunbury
walking
alongside followed by the Pirate Ship
