Bluebird 'will live and breathe again'
Dec 8 2006 By Daniel Cochlin, The Journal
The daughter of Donald Campbell, who died in the Lake District trying to set a new water speed record, has launched a fundraising drive to find a permanent home for the wreckage of his boat.
Gina Campbell has been battling with the Heritage Lottery Fund to be given money to rebuild Bluebird, and house at the Ruskin Museum in Cumbria - near Coniston Water where her father died.
Ms Campbell said she was forced to go it alone after two unsuccessful bids for funding and is looking to secure £750,000.
Mr Campbell died in 1967 when his jet-powered boat flipped and crashed as he tried to break his own world water speed record.
The wreck was raised from the depths of the lake in 2001 and Mr Campbell's remains were later discovered and buried in the town.
Ms Campbell fell out with Lottery bosses over her wish to display Bluebird in its former glory rather than as a wreckage.
Bluebird is currently in the Tynemouth workshop of Bill Smith, the underwater surveyor and amateur diver who found the wreck. He hopes it will be restored to full working order within the next two years.
Announcing a decision to donate the boat to the museum, Ms Campbell said: "We have had four years of talking to the Heritage Lottery Fund and it has all come to a fruitless exercise.
"A lot of time, money and effort has been wasted. So I've decided to go it alone and secure the Bluebird's future for the people of Coniston whose kindness and generosity to my family has been without parallel."
She said: "We used to be a nation geared towards winning things but now we seem to have an apathy on winning.
"But my father was a winner who went out in a blaze as a hero. It would have been the way he would have chosen to go."
Mr Smith, who is personally funding the restoration, said: "We want grandparents to bring their grandchildren to see the boat on the water. We want to see the Bluebird live and breath again."
Donald Campbell, the son of Sir Malcolm Campbell who himself held land and water speed records, was 45 when he died trying to reach 267mph.
During its 34 years underwater, the boat's jet engines were ruined but its frame was reasonably preserved.
The museum will apply for local economic regeneration funding to contribute 40% of the extension costs and will look for donations for the remaining amount.
