The museum at the centre of a legal row over the future of Donald Campbell’s Bluebird has issued a statement for clarification.
It was revealed last month that legal proceedings were started by the Ruskin Museum for it to gain possession of the 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.
A statement from the Ruskin Museum said: “On June 23 2021, the lawyers of The Coniston Institute & Ruskin Museum issued a letter of claim to The Bluebird Project Ltd in respect of Bluebird K7.
“This is not formal legal action; it is a letter before action, giving BPL a timeframe in which to respond.
“To clarify, the museum has not told BPL to remove the parts they have added to the original Bluebird K7 as part of the restoration.
“The museum has requested BPL to return Bluebird K7 to as complete a configuration as possible.
“This was originally envisaged and agreed (although it appears that this may now be disputed by BPL).
“Alternatively, the museum would accept the suggestion made by Bill Smith, project leader of BPL in 2019, that they remove the parts they see as their property, and allow the museum to receive Bluebird K7 as recovered from Coniston Water.
“However, this is not our preferred option.
“It is our intention to run a fully operable Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water.”
Read all about the letter of claim from the Ruskin Museum here
