Ivor the Engine & friends

"...Not very long ago, in the top left-hand corner of Wales, there was a railway.  It wasn't a very long railway or a very important railway, but it was called The Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, and it was all there was.
And in a shed, in a siding at the end of the railway, lives the Locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, which was a long name for a little engine so his friends just called him Ivor..."

Come along to Celebration of Steam this year at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, to meet our new special guest Ivor the Engine and his friends. They’ll be bringing the dockyard to life with singing from 'Evan Evans the Song' and his Grumbley and District Choral Society, Ivor storytelling, Spring born animals from Kidsrome Mobile Farms – including lambs, calves, donkeys, ponies, and much more.

IVOR THE ENGINE
Unlike most steam locomotives Ivor has a mind of his own - he can drive himself and using his whistle can speak! His favourite things are to sing with the Grumbley and District Choral Society as first bass of the choir, visiting the seaside, making tea from his boiler and spending time with his friends. He’s very fond of animals and has several of them among his friends. He can be a little wilful and disobedient at times and it is not unknown for him to go and do his own thing when he should be working!

EDWIN JONES THE STEAM
Edwin Jones is Ivor's driver. He’s a cheerful and kind-hearted chap who perhaps sympathises more than most railway staff would with Ivor's idiosyncrasies! People who have not met him before may think him rather eccentric for talking to his engine and but all his friends know he’s a perfectly ordinary engine driver who is there to cope with whatever needs to be coped with!

DAI STATION
Dai Station is the Station master at Llaniog, he’s a stickler for the regulations of the railway therefore his life is made a little difficult by the fact that Ivor really doesn't care much for regulations, but sometimes bends the rules himself to help his friends.

IDRIS THE DRAGON
Idris is a small, red heraldic dragon that hatched from an egg in Ivor's firebox. Idris also sings in the Grumbley and District Choral Society and he lives in Smoke Hill. As well as singing, he once proved useful by cooking fish and chips for the choir using his fiery breath!

EVAN EVANS THE SONG
A musical man who is the choir master of the Grumbly and District Choral Society.

THE GRUMBLY AND DISTRICT CHORAL SOCIETY
Like most Welsh choirs, the Choral Society sing like angels, and they are all very proud of their new first bass, Ivor the Engine.

MRS GRIFFITHS
Mrs Griffiths is the chair-person of the Antiquarian Society.  She doesn't believe in dragons, or in Railway Engines that talk, and she has come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Jones the Steam is raving mad.

MRS PORTY
She lives in the big house and is known to be, as she puts it; "Very rich and extremely silly".  But she is fond of her donkey, Bluebell & has a new hat delivered from London every week.  She also, more than occasionally, takes a glass or two of her namesake...port.

BLUEBELL THE DONKEY
A donkey who lives at Mrs Porty's house. She cannot talk, but she and Ivor just enjoy sitting around together.

...and many more of Ivor's friends, so come along to Celebration of Steam to meet them all.