Petition to return Donald Campbell's Bluebird to Coniston

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by Sam68, May 6, 2019.

  1. Sam68
    Joined: Dec 2012
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    Location: UK

    Sam68 New Member

    Those with any interest will know that things have turned unpleasant between the company set up to restore Donald Campbell's Bluebird K7 on a self-funding basis, and the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, who legally own her.

    In simple terms, Bluebird Project Limited, the company set up to restore her, are refusing to hand her back to the Ruskin Museum, unless the latter gives undertakings that BBP retains the rights to maintain and run her (pretty much whenever and wherever they see fit)... on the basis of a legal agreement that they (BBP) drafted back in 2013 but was never accepted or signed by the Ruskin.

    All this would just be boring bickering between two parties, were it not for the fact that the guy who effectively controls BBP, in response to a formal claim by the Ruskin, is now threatening to break Bluebird up rather than to hand her over to her rightful owners.

    Bill Smith from BBP has said:
    "...it's correct that we'll dismantle K7 if necessary. If the museum repudiates the 2013 agreement (which they never signed up to!!) we'll just remove all our parts and give theirs back"


    He has previously claimed that 90% of the recovered wreck, which was largely intact from the cockpit backwards, has been re-used in the restoration, so separating the restored and replaced work from original material would irrevocably destroy this hugely important part of our engineering and record-breaking heritage.

    If you wish to see Bluebird return to Coniston and placed in the hands of a proper museum, who will display her to the public (both statically, in the museum, and on the lake - since despite what BBP would have you believe, they have also clearly stated a commitment to the latter), instead of being subjected to the whims of one man who sees her as his personal plaything, please sign the following petition - it's free:

    Sign the Petition http://chng.it/y8MtCMXXNW

    If you have slightly deeper pockets, the Ruskin Museum are themselves seeking financial help to support their legal battle to recover the boat from Smith's hands:

    See the home page of their website for details:

    Ruskin Museum http://www.ruskinmuseum.com/
     
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