Donald Campbell's restored Bluebird in museum home row

[ace_chris]

The bit I dont get is why all the parties involved . BBP , BEWG , LDNPA ,Ruskin folks etc all not just agree to meet at a local pub put there differences (if there are any) aside and over a few pints hash things out and agree on something and end all this mindless speculation.
Hell I’ll even buy the beer if thats what it takes

At all stages the BBP have appeared to actively want to engage with the other parties. Bearing in mind the team do this on a voluntary basis and are not paid either! I can’t see coniston 202x ever happening.

[Malcolm Ops]

The bit I dont get is why all the parties involved . BBP , BEWG , LDNPA ,Ruskin folks etc all not just agree to meet at a local pub put there differences (if there are any) aside and over a few pints hash things out and agree on something

The Bluebird Event Working Group (BEWG) was established in 2016 to undertake just what has been described, without hosting the meetings in a pub (there are five to choose from plus other licensed premises) or consuming ale.

The BEWG was established by the Parish Council after a presentation was made by the BBP to them in 2015. The BEWG has representation from Coniston Parish Council, LDNPA, Ruskin Museum, Business Forum, Coniston residents, and since day one to March 2018 - the Bluebird Project.

[Healey nut]

The bit I dont get is why all the parties involved . BBP , BEWG , LDNPA ,Ruskin folks etc all not just agree to meet at a local pub put there differences (if there are any) aside and over a few pints hash things out and agree on something

The Bluebird Event Working Group (BEWG) was established in 2016 to undertake just what has been described, without hosting the meetings in a pub (there are five to choose from plus other licensed premises) or consuming ale.

The BEWG was established by the Parish Council after a presentation was made by the BBP to them in 2015. The BEWG has representation from Coniston Parish Council, LDNPA, Ruskin Museum, Business Forum, Coniston residents, and since day one to March 2018 - the Bluebird Project.

Ok so whats the sticking point , clearly if you have been meeting that long something or someone is a problem ?

[Renegadenemo]

Okay,

The BEWG, or whatever is is and/or has been in the past, simply has no coherent structure. Individuals come and go, there's no clear leadership (not to be confused with a committee-land 'chair') and, basically, they get nothing done. I don't wish this to seem like I'm insulting them or having a go, it's just plainly observable fact, they appear to have done nothing tangible that we can see. We have been attempting to guide them based on our model of how to do this - brand, website, merchandise, sponsors, etc. etc. for ten years but to no avail. Four years ago they were warned that if they didn't get down to business we'd end up ahead of them but all we have heard for years is that they couldn't do anything until we could tell them 'when' the boat would be finished to which we honestly replied that we didn't know because we'd not done one before. So then we gave them a year's notice that we were going to Scotland but still, nothing got moving until long after we'd returned and they announced July 2019 only to find out that we were right all along and had to bale out. What else could we have done?

The LDNPA tried very hard to railroad the project into the depths of winter (and in the BEWG's defence some of their offering useless, winter dates had much to do with this but then the BEWG had many years to solve this problem ahead of it being a problem) and it took an inordinate length of time for the LDNPA to realise that we weren't interested in that so at least that has been sorted out and they've played with a straight bat ever since but we're talking professional bureaucrats here so there's always a lawyer hovering nearby so the idea of actually sitting around a table thrashing something out is a big no-no. They have their procedures, ticky-boxes and it's set in stone but in their defence, many people love to hate them so you can't blame them for not wanting to put a foot wrong.

The Museum put up a building, though had it not been for available money left over the Foot and Mouth epidemic it's questionable whether this would have been possible. Since then their involvement has been negligible though we have had regular visits. There's now a new curator-in-waiting at the Ruskin who told me only today that she knows absolutely nothing about the Bluebird thing despite having been there since November. We have asked them several times to set out their thoughts and proposals on how Bluebird should be displayed going into the future, which obviously includes access for the BBP to maintain and run her, but only deafening silence so we wait on that one too. We've also invited the museum to join us as partners in a joint-venture, second crew training exercise too but without response.

So now you know the score - someone tell us what we should do next?

[rich1608]

So now you know the score - someone tell us what we should do next?

Go back to Bute again this summer and also start putting a plan together to run K7 at other locations apart from Coniston (and Bute). I honestly don't think you could have done any more than you have.

[Healey nut]

So now you know the score - someone tell us what we should do next?

Go back to Bute again this summer and also start putting a plan together to run K7 at other locations apart from Coniston (and Bute). I honestly don't think you could have done any more than you have.

Like I said previously , tell them to stick Coniston and go it alone .
The problem seems to be that there are to many fingers in the pie and the left hand isnt in connection with the right and the brains are somewhere out in left field .
Go it alone as a non profit , put out the empty quality street tin out for donations and if you want to sit in the cockpit where Donald did it requires a donation of XXXX
Find a suitable piece of water and set yourself up there for a min 2 week period and annouce it to the world on social media and the people will come .
If ????? you can get Ruskin people to come with K7 trinkets to sell even better .

[Ernie Lazenby]

AS someone who regularly attends meetings of a local parish Council, as an official representing out model boat club, I see first hand what the problem can be for anyone trying to get answers. Indeed in the space of six months I have seen so many councillor changes I barely recognise any. That said the clerk to the parish council is usually the one who has some idea what's going on and I am wondering if the BEWG has someone who collates all the relevant information from those heavily involved in formulating a plan. Maybe that's expecting too much?

The ongoing silence is a bit of a concern no doubt, however I do wonder if that's because something is happening in the background perhaps related to the view of those who are against K7 running again after a proving trial.

Looking at the current situation objectively we now know that K7 is apparently jointly owned, one presumes that the BBP has assumed half ownership because of the work done to restore K7. Playing devils advocate one could look at this from the other side of the pennine hills; a group of volunteers offered to restore K7 presumably with no mention of being paid but being funded by generous people who did so in the light of information at that time. Some time thereafter the goal posts got moved and K7 moved from being owned by the Ruskin museum to being jointly owned. Therefore may some of those in Coniston be confused as to whether or not their efforts are to be in vain and mainly for the benefit of outsiders. Maybe they also feel that running K7, as old as she is, is not what was intended.

I feel at times we all need to remember Donald Campbells words during a TV interview. I believe it went something like this, 'this is not put on for a public spectacle' His goals were for a much more admirable reason than that. Having been a follower of the Campbell story for 60 years, rather than someone who has jumped on the bandwagon, I feel very sad that DC's K7 is once again shrouded in controversy. There is now a public spectacle and its not good.

Anyway it is clear there is an impasse at the moment and therefore maybe the one half of the story that is being open as to what's currently going on should just do what they feel is correct for them. BTW I am very pleased that the tone of many posts from the BBP have been less acerbic of late and that's why I feel able to contribute..

[Renegadenemo]

I feel at times we all need to remember Donald Campbells words during a TV interview. I believe it went something like this, 'this is not put on for a public spectacle' His goals were for a much more admirable reason than that. Having been a follower of the Campbell story for 60 years, rather than someone who has jumped on the bandwagon, I feel very sad that DC's K7 is once again shrouded in controversy. There is now a public spectacle and its not good.

Hey, Ernie - good to see you back! You OK?

Re, K7 - this time it is put on as a public entertainment notwithstanding that this time around I'm sure DMC would be thrilled to see the British, when the put their minds to it, jolly-well overcoming all obstacles and achieving anything, considering that his legend an legacy was well and truly down and out for so long. He's also famously quoted as saying, 'there's no such thing as bad publicity', so perhaps he'd be quietly enjoying the current storm in a teacup too. Who say's Campbell's not popular?

[JfromJAGs]

I feel at times we all need to remember Donald Campbells words during a TV interview. I believe it went something like this, 'this is not put on for a public spectacle' His goals were for a much more admirable reason than that. Having been a follower of the Campbell story for 60 years, rather than someone who has jumped on the bandwagon, I feel very sad that DC's K7 is once again shrouded in controversy. There is now a public spectacle and its not good.

See what he really said: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONH-QsW ... u.be&t=135

This was said in the context of the question why he was going for the 300mph record - the reason was "not for public entertainment", but because he wanted to archieve a goal. A goal that was important to him - keeping the record in British hands. But this was only part of the story. Another reason was to get publicity from this new record, so he could raise the interest for his new land speed project. He hoped to get sponsorship after the publicity of the new water record. You need to keep in mind that his profession was record breaking - which only works if he receives massive(!) public interrest. So there was always publicity involved - think of the parade in Adelaide in June 1964 - where more than 200.000 people gathered to see him. So althought it was not purely done for public entertainment - there were also goals - publicity was his life too.

Running the restored K7 again is nothing of this. It is only done to honour Donald Campbell and his archievements. Not only for the British but for everyone world wide. Noone of the BBP group will use the publicity to get any money out of it or make a living from it. In fact these people invest their own money and a huge amount of their spare time into it. It is entertainment for those who witness the runs, yes, but in a completely different way than what DC ment when he talked about "not for public entertainment". This time its for enthusiasts of past leading technology, maybe even to create new interest into real technology again - not only into so called social media and virtual reality.

I can't see anything wrong with running K7 as a living machine once a year and having her rest in a museum for the remaining time. Keeping her alive adds so much to the value of the experience and the memory of DC that everyone should be deeply grateful to those who put their effort into this project.

BR,
Joerg

[Healey nut]

Very very well said .