Donald Campbell's restored Bluebird in museum home row

[Techteam]

It is numbers time again folks.

100 days have passed since Bluebird K7 went on to the surface of Loch Fad on the Isle of Bute for crew training. Yes, one hundred days!

I am not sure which Isle has "limited access" from the last posting - is that the British Isles post Brexit or the area known as the Lake District at any time or the Isle of Bute. The Isle of Bute has two ferry routes to the mainland and the crew training attracted Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Germans, Spanish, Italians visitors as well as some English and Scots?

Malcolm, I was referring to Bute in a nice way, because when Bill and the team started the rebuild all those years ago I said in passing "You know they have absolutely no idea just how many people will show for this." There was a fantastic turnout on Bute, but having lived in the area I know the staggering amount of people who go to the Grasmere Turnip Dig (made up for comedic effect don't try and find the dates) I truly believe if by some miracle this happens as planned it will dwarf any event held in the Lake District, certainly Coniston for many, many a year. And that will be fantastic.

[Piston Broke]

We're sending over a donation of some outdoor lights and batteries for the Campbell Memorial...perhaps if everyone helped out with the same, we could make it really look like something this Christmas? Mark them for the attention of Councillor Tracy Coward, via the Coniston Institute.

Ho ho ho!


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Here is the full address for anyone who wants to donate

Councillor Tracy Coward
Christmas Lights Committee
Coniston Institute
15 Yewdale Road
Cumbria
Coniston
LA21 8DU

[Malcolm Ops]

From a document posted on the 2018 news pages of the CPC:
Lakeland 100 Coniston Community Fund
Coniston Christmas Lights (buy additional Lights for individual shops/businesses) £500.00

.....and during my recent near fortnight stay in the village I saw nothing about funding for memorial location Christmas tree lights. [As always I did contribute to many of the local shops/businesses though].

[Renegadenemo]

I think we touched a nerve with the parish council on twitter!

Wasn't the plan - they did say their Christmas Light Committee couldn't afford lights. Yes, it's exasperating that it isn't done but, hey, for the sake of a quick trip to the shops and a few quid there's the lights. When my girls were born I planted a Christmas tree for each of them. Lucy's is outside the front door and Emily's is in the back garden and as soon as they could toddle I bought them each a set of those battery operated lights so they could decorate their trees as a beacon to Santa. They still have those lights, though the trees have outgrown them a little, so the new ones ought to give many years of reliable service.

[Richie]

Happy to come over and help put them up with you Bill.

Every little helps as they say.

[Renegadenemo]

Thanks, Rich, but I reckon the Christmas Lights Committee have this.

That said, if you look at the item above the light shortage in the same minutes it seems there's a horticultural issue.

A planter at Little Moss Close needs some attention as there is a large fern growing in it.

Was thinking we could take the whole team for a re-enactment of the Giant Turnip and just pull it out.

[Scots Pine]

Now that the BREXIT committee is starting to wind up mibbies they could lend a hand to the CPC?

[Richie]

Trying to help the Coniston folks, build bridges and we get attacked.

We can’t win at all.

[Moonie]

ITV Granada News has just reported on bluebirds return to Coniston in 2019. Showed Donalds accident and stated bluebird had since been restored by his son

[Renegadenemo]

ITV Granada News has just reported on bluebirds return to Coniston in 2019. Showed Donalds accident and stated bluebird had since been restored by his son

Now that did make me laugh because I call Gina 'Mum' and she often replies with 'Son' so has someone been listening in and taken it literally?

Just the final peculiar twist on a very strange day. It began with us taking pity on the Christmas Lights Committee and sending them some lights as an early pressie and inviting others to do likewise but before our gift even got there we were served a load of twittering about how this really wasn't the case and soon a hole would be dug in the ground to house a battery - but this was going to take a year - and anyway, the H&S wombles would find fault with the indoor/outdoor, LED lights powered by a fistful of AA batteries that we bought at Morrisons. Shame on Morrisons for selling such dangerous kit. What a load of utter bolleaux! Try to do someone a favour, eh...

But then it just went all surreal with the Hooplas issuing a press release to the effect that we are all game on for July. What?

Issuing press releases is like reading out someone's medical test results. It's not a game, it affects people! So much so that it flushed out a response from the bureaucrats who, quite rightly, made it very clear that we are most definitely NOT game on for July until they damn-well say so.

Steve Tatlock, Park Management Team Leader from the Lake District National Park said:

Although it appears dates have been agreed between the Bluebird event group and Bluebird K7 project, final confirmation lies with the Lake District National Park. We look forward to receiving an application for a proving trial event involving Bluebird running at speeds of more than 10mph on Coniston water, alongside a thoroughly considered homecoming public event plan. We remain very willing to work with the Bluebird K7 project and other partners to see Bluebird return to Coniston water and are committed to supporting this ambition.

Poor Steve... Not someone we always see eye to eye with but he didn't deserve that nonsense! So, for the record, dates most definitely have NOT been agreed between the Hooplas and BBP. The July dates tick our boxes on paper and we said so at our meeting last week but that's as far as it goes and without bureaucratic sign-off it's all pie in the sky.
Why they would say this is something of a mystery.
Perhaps they imagine it will help them attract sponsors but any potential benefactor will do their due diligence and likely end up becoming our sponsor rather than theirs to place themselves closer to the action. Maybe it's to placate an angry public who appreciate that there's just no excuse, who knows but whatever the reason it's a very high-risk strategy.

The LDNPA want a 'thoroughly considered homecoming public event plan', which is bureaucrat-speak for, this is going to have to be damned good to penetrate the armour we're putting over our bottoms!

It's a massive job that just got bigger. I was reading my notes today from the exercise to get public liability insurance for Bute and that was a lot of negotiation for a closed and privately owned space and that's without having to actually sign a sizeable cheque for the premium. And there's still the deal to be done for future running. We're having a sample contract drafted by the good old legal-eagles as a starting point for negotiations and that will have a LDNPA level of bottom armour in place too to protect all those who want to see K7 operating into the future so you can guess that it won't find any ink drying on it in the near future. See what happens when you turn your heap of junk into a thing of amazing blue beauty...
Were I a gambling man I'd say you're looking at the beginning of three to five years work here.