Legal proceedings have been started for a Cumbrian museum to gain possession of Donald Campbell’s record-breaking Bluebird against the man who recovered her.
Bluebird was raised from the bed of Coniston Water in March 2001 where she had lain, effectively undisturbed since the fatal crash that killed Donald Campbell on January 4 1967.
Bill Smith, who also found Mr Campbell’s body, located the boat and then recovered her.
He has kept the boat ever since, but in 2006, Mr Campbell’s family gifted the Bluebird to the Coniston Institute and the Ruskin Museum.
The museum, Mr Smith and the Campbell family have been in talks over possession of the boat, but broke down in 2019.
Today, the museum trustees announced they have started legal proceedings to bring Bluebird to the museum.
A statement said: “It is with profound sadness that the trustees of the Coniston Institute and Ruskin Museum, can confirm they have started the process against Bill Smith and the directors of The Bluebird Project to gain possession of their property.
“This action is very much the last resort, with relationships having irretrievably broken down in late 2019, following efforts by the museum and the Campbell Family Heritage Trust to find an amicable solution to the claims made by Mr Smith regarding ownership and his intentions for the boat.”
In 2019, the museum proposed that Mr Smith and the Bluebird Project could display the boat for 90 days a year, and the rest of the year in the purpose-built Bluebird Wing at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston.
The proposal also included plans for a steering committee, made up of an equal number of representatives from the Bluebird Project, museum and Campbell Family Heritage Trust, to be set up to manage the future of Bluebird.
Ruskin Museum proposal rejected
The museum claimed the proposal was rejected immediately by Mr Smith and the Bluebird Project.
The museum said the boat was currently being worked on at Mr Smith’s North Shields workshop.
It added that Mr Smith’s plans to run the boat on Loch Fad on the Isle of Bute did not have permission from the museum to use its property in this way.
It said: “The museum will not be sanctioning any such venture.
“The museum cannot take any responsibility for any losses incurred as a result of any accommodation or holiday bookings made.
“To be clear: Bute 2.0, as Mr Smith describes, would be unlawful.
“The museum is resolute in its aim that Bluebird K7 should be restored to her condition immediately prior to the crash and placed on display in the Bluebird Wing.
“The museum would support some relatively low speed runs with Bluebird K7 and was instrumental along with Coniston Parish Council and others in the drafting of a revised byelaw for Coniston Water to make the process by which boats like Bluebird K7 could be run simpler and more straightforward.
“Any running of Bluebird K7 must take account of what is fit and proper for the boat, the lake and lake users as well as the greater Coniston area given that there would be huge interest from the general public and the media.
“The museum hopes that it can rely on the public to support its aspirations and will rally behind it to see Bluebird K7 finally in her purpose-built home in Coniston, only a few hundred yards from where her brave skipper, Donald, is buried.”
