About the Characters

This is a great place to learn more about your favourite character and about new characters as they are introduced in the series. Some of them you will also meet inside the park. Knowing about each of the characters will be of interest to all members and will assist you in playing the games inside the park.

more coming soon ....

TUG BOAT BEN

Age: 5 (going on 6)
Likes: music, whistling, singing
Favourite Food: chocolate, ice cream, apple pie, kiwi
Favourite Color: red
Home: Lee

Tug Boat Ben lives at the coastal town of Lee, in the imaginary Land of Alderney. He is the main character in the children’s series The Adventures of Tug Boat Ben.

In the stories, Ben is 5 years old (human years). To him each day presents new opportunities to learn, explore and have fun. He loves a good beat and often you will find him whistling and singing a happy tune. Ben has an older brother called Tug Boat Josh and an older sister called Steam Boat Britt. We will learn more about them in the series. Ben relies on his brother and sister for direction and protection.

He always wants to know “why” about almost everything and sometimes his curiosity gets him into trouble. He also believes in being honest and truthful at all times, just as his father taught him to be. Ben’s sense of humour is always on the ready. If he can make you smile, he will. He finds great pleasure in making other people laugh and be happy. It is not uncommon for him to re-enact the actions and expressions of famous people and comedians. Ben can be very serious too, especially if he senses that an injustice has been done or there is a need to defend the innocent.

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GEORGE THE BLUE HERON

Age: old
Likes: fishing
Favourite Food: fish
Favourite Color: blue
Home: Hampton Bay

George the Blue Heron is one of the main male characters in the animation series The Adventures of Tug Boat Ben. George has never really made a permanent home, although he is often found around Hampton Bay.

With flying goggles, an old brown leather hat with open chin strap, a long red flying scarf and a leather pouch which he carries with a strap over his shoulder, George looks more like a pilot than a bird. Full of ambition, determination and daring when he was younger, he now resembles an aged but more comic Charles Lindberg, with a plump sagging waist line, easily winded on long flights and with his funny and sometimes awkward landings.

George was a close friend of Ben’s father Edward. Like a caring uncle he keeps is eye out for young Ben and is always ready to share some words of wisdom or an interesting story.

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CAPTAIN PETER

Age: old, like really old
Likes: telling stories and having visitors
Favourite Food: roast beef
Favourite Color: navy blue
Home: Lighthouse on the Island of York

Captain Peter is a retired sea captain who lives in a lighthouse. The lighthouse is located at the mouth of Hampton Bay, on the Island of York near the town of Tilbury in the imaginary Land of Alderney.

Dressed in full captain's attire including a cherished captain's hat, Peter visually portrays the discipline and strong character required to be a captain and responsible for the lives of others. The tails that he relates are based on events drawn from his own personal experience and of those that he has known.

The cheerfully lit ground floor of the lighthouse provides the setting from which most of the captain's stories begin. With a hart as wide as the sea, the Captain always has a warm fire on in the stone fireplace waiting for our visit. Circled around the fireplace, are several furnishings, a rocking chair for the captain, two cosy armchairs, and a sofa with a blanket for someone to snuggle up on.

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SIMON THE FISHERMAN'S SON
Melanie The Dolphin
Age: 5
Likes: singing
Favourite Food: peaches, chocolate milk
Favourite Color: racing green
Home: Lee

The name for this character, was inspired by a song written by Jimmy Rankin entitled the Fisherman's Son.

Simon, as his friends call him, is an animated young fishing boat who arrives from another port far away to live at the coastal town of Lee, in the imaginary Land of Alderney.

Having to leave his original home, the making new friends and being accepted becomes very important to him. Though he and Ben are different in appearance and abilities the two put these differences aside. Being of the same age and with the shared amount of curiosity, humour and adventuresome imagination as our main character, Simon becomes Ben’s closest friend.

Having received fine training from his father Simon possesses a level of confidence that allows him to feel very at home on the open sea. But at the same time he also is keen to accept fatherly direction and encouragement from one of our older characters in the series, George the Blue Heron.

Right from his first appearance in the series Simon uses music to add to his enjoyment of working and like Ben is able to fill his day happily working, smiling and singing to himself.

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MELANIE THE DOLPHIN

Age: "A lady never reveals her age."
Likes: swimming and music
Favourite Food: shrimp
Favourite Color: green
Home: Southern Ocean

Melanie is a “southern bell” who lives in the salt water sea near the Island of York. In the winter time Melanie returns to warmer waters far away. She is a strong and graceful swimmer. As she likes to remind people, she is not a fish. She is a dolphin a warm–blooded, air breathing, talking mammal.

In fact she is very smart has a very interesting sense of humour. Melanie is courageous, determined and inquisitive but quick to detect danger and the need for immediate action when required. At the same time she is very sensitive about the feelings of others and proves to be a very trustworthy and responsible friend who is always ready to help others. Being a citizen of the seas she is very concerned about keeping the oceans, lakes and rivers clean and educating others as to why they should appreciate them and help take care of them too.

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STEAM ENGINE TIFFY

Age: 9
Likes: going real fast and music
Favourite Food: chocolate & strawberries
Favourite Color: HOT PINK
Home: Melksham

Steam Engine Tiffy is one of our main characters. She is always determined to be punctual and dependable. Her home train station is in Melksham, a small town up the Avon river across from the smaller village of Littlemarsh, in the imaginary Land of Alderney. In Melksham there is a passenger station on the main line and not far away is a train yard and small engine house where she stays when not in use or in for repairs. She pulls mainly passenger trains and sometimes freight cars as well.

She is very intrigued and concerned with the care of the environment and protection of animals both large and small. She is very thoughtful about these issues, examining the multiple causes and the practical solutions for them.

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