Donald Campbell's restored Bluebird in museum home row

[Bluebird-Hungary]

Speaking personally, I'm hoping we'll get official confirmation soon as to whether K7 will be in 2019 action at Coniston or Bute, or elsewhere. Not only does accommodation need to be booked for the right area, but in our case, coming from Hungary, the flights too ! The new Coniston web site serves only to 'muddy the water', I feel.

[Renegadenemo]

Following a meeting last Sunday with the powers on the isle we can at least confirm our permission to return to Bute so if Coniston can't get their event signed off by LDNPA and the organising in process within the next few weeks Bute will certainly be available to pick up the baton.

[rich1608]

Following a meeting last Sunday with the powers on the isle we can at least confirm our permission to return to Bute so if Coniston can't get their event signed off by LDNPA and the organising in process within the next few weeks Bute will certainly be available to pick up the baton.

I did wonder if you might be going to somewhere with a longer course than Bute e.g. Loch Eck.

[Renegadenemo]

That's the plan but Bute is there no matter what...

[Jett]

Thought I'd quote the exact wording of the deed of gift.

'Property' the Bluebird K7 as recovered from Coniston Water in or around 2001, the associated parts of the vessel both recovered and unrecovered and all other associated items and objects so recovered and/or recovered to include, but without limitation clothing and overalls of Donald Campbell (deceased).

That's it, that's all so the bald fact of the matter is that the museum owns what came out of the water as scrap and we own the rest including the rivets, paint and sealants. Also, we have said for at least ten years that when we display the boat in the museum it comes with strings attached with regard to getting it back out again and keeping everything fighting fit, running, etc. So, if they had a problem with any of that, there has been more than enough time to challenge it.

Read so much nonsense over the years about ownership and have always just let it go but there it is in black and white.

Well, since it was still a wreck, the museum couldn't, at that point, own the reconstructed Bluebird K7 in 2006, when the Deed of Gift was drawn up and signed off, could they? Doh.

[Jett]

I was watching the Sky News Loch Fad documentary again, the other day. Interesting to hear Bill Smith say that Coniston has had a decade to get ready for Bluebird K7's return. In fact it's the other way round. The Bluebird Wing of the Ruskin Museum was opened in 2008, and Coniston has been patiently waiting a decade for Bill Smith to complete the reconstruction of the boat and return it there.

[Richie]

JETT ! Where you been !?!? We missed you !


Fingers doing the walking before the brain did the thinking, you are an expert at this.

[Richie]

Well, my wife has been asking the museum for
Answers with regards to the “decommissioning” side of things, she may not be able to make it to the July event next year due to work commitments wanting to know that this wasn’t the last chance she would get to see the boat run, I have tried to reassure her that there will be other events but she doesn’t have my optimism !


Alas she has not had any replies for either the museum or the author of the new bluebird Coniston web page.

Shame.

I asked her what did she expect asking a difficult question which the museum or author won’t want to answer on paper

All very embarrassing really

Maybe her surname has been marked as bad.


I would invite folk interested in the clarity of the decommissioning statement to contact the Ruskin or the Bluebird Coniston Page for answers, as they have made it a public statement they are obliged to add clarity on the subject....

[Renegadenemo]

Well, my wife has been asking the museum for
Answers with regards to the “decommissioning” side of things

The decommissioning thing was a knee-jerk reaction to a misleading press release. The original release saying that we'd be running the boat in July was passed over my desk before it went live - except on that occasion it didn't go live because word got out prematurely. But the original release read:-

Following the trials, Bluebird will go into her permanent home, the Bluebird Wing of the Ruskin Museum, in the heart of the village where Donald Campbell is buried and where this beautiful, historic boat can be admired at close quarters.

I first of all asked how long Donald had been buried in the museum then pointed out that Bluebird would not be going straight to the museum and to say otherwise was misleading and that if the release wasn't changed I would go on the record to discount it.
At this point I was invited to 'see the bigger picture', as one day the boat would go into the museum so it didn't need spelling out. First of all, I ought to have been incensed at someone telling me to see the bigger picture and would have been but for the fact that individual who suggested it is thick as mince and knew no better and secondly, I made it clear that in a press release such things must be spelt out or people get the wrong idea and that idea soon becomes gospel. Off went our non-media-savvy, wannabe press-officer only to come back back with 'decommissioning', which was just as misleading and inaccurate but by now the story had broken and there's no use issuing a release about a story that by this time was two days old. That ought to have been that.

But what happened next was that the same words cropped up, cut and pasted, into various documents and lo and behold - suddenly it's gospel.

[Richie]

I have received messages upon messages upon messages asking “what the hell is going on” people are angry, very angry indeed.

I have tried to seek clarity from the museum and from the author of the Bluebird Coniston Page. All my requests have gone without response, personally speaking, for me, this speaks volumes with regards to the intentions of the museum and the BEWG.

The effect in my own opinion is that the rickety bridge which has been constructed between the BBP and them is being burned from their end at a time when efforts should be made to work together....as you know I was a big advocate of the boat running on Coniston.