Donald Campbell's restored Bluebird in museum home row

[JfromJAGs]

I don't understand why a group of people steps forward and anounces dates for the runs of K7 on Coniston Water when nothing seams to be clear, neither with those who will do the runs nor with those who need to give permissions. What's the purpose behind this? I don't get it.

Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope to see K7 roar somewhere in 2019.

BR,
Joerg

[Renegadenemo]

I don't understand why a group of people steps forward and anounces dates for the runs of K7 on Coniston Water when nothing seams to be clear, neither with those who will do the runs nor with those who need to give permissions. What's the purpose behind this? I don't get it.

They were told for a decade to get moving with plans for Bluebird to run on Coniston and did nothing. They were told three years ago that if they didn't get a move on we would end up ahead of them and it was imperative that they cracked on with all possible haste - they did nothing. We told them a year ahead of Bute that we were gong there - they didn't involve themselves in the crew training, which would have provided both valuable lessons, badly needed experience and an opportunity to promote the village and the lake. Then it took the LDNPA an inordinate length of time to realise that we weren't coming when the kids were in school and therefore proposing dates that would work took longer than it should have.

So what we are seeing here is a panic reaction to public opinion based on a realisation far too late that BBP is actually delivering what it said it would deliver. Yes, there is some wibble about having built a museum but this has,

a. nothing to do with running the boat and,
b. is mostly good fortune due to there being some European money left over from the 2001 foot & mouth outbreak.

Now the BEWG (Bluebird Event Working Group) is frantically trying to organise an even for next July when no permission to run is even anywhere in sight and that's without being able to host and properly manage such an event, and this set against a background of the LDNPA being obliged to cover its bureaucratic backside in many layers of armour. It's madness! All of this should have been done years ago. I did suggest organising it for 2020 and was asked, 'what is my problem?'

And I will say this once again, for a very simple reason, which is that I will trot out every instance of me saying it in plenty of time should the need arise.

Unless a deal is done for future running of the boat and access to all our hard work for our own purposes is signed off on an ongoing basis for part of the year we will not be going to Coniston.

I have an awful feeling that this will go into the same bracket as, we're not coming when the kids are in school, and the realisation that we mean it will dawn either too late or when there's only time to panic over it.

[Jett]

Interesting, when I clicked on the original poster of this thread. mark-f, back came the message that he 'no longer exists'. I tried to pm him, and back came the same message. I then tried the same with that excellent poster of yore, Ernie Lazenby. Same result. It's presumably pure coincidence of course, that they have both asked 'difficult' questions and been critical of BBP .

[Richie]

Ah JETT, where you been ?!? We missed you !!

Would be great if you didn’t hide behind a fake name, have courage......

[Malcolm Ops]

In the spirit of the forthcoming New Year, anyone reading this thread before 11am on New Years eve could go to the Bluebird Coniston website and watch the countdown data-line

It will be on 200 days for 24 hours.

Oh, and I did check. It is 150 days since Bluebird K7 arrived on the quayside on the Isle of Bute.

[Healey nut]

New years wish list .
A-The sniping and bitching about who said what and why about K7 will stop .
B-Joe Public will get some clear concise accurate information as to where and when K7 will be running in 2019 .
Some of us viewing public have flights to book and vacation arrngements to make with work etc etc .
Happy new year to all at BBP .

[Renegadenemo]

I then tried the same with that excellent poster of yore, Ernie Lazenby. Same result. It's presumably pure coincidence of course, that they have both asked 'difficult' questions and been critical of BBP .

Can't comment on Mark-F except to confirm that he did request that his account be deactivated but Ernie is an old pal of almost 20 years with whom I remain in contact. He also asked to have his account deactivated for personal reasons but no doubt he will return. Ernie is welcome to be as difficult as he likes - he's still a pal. The difference, you see, is this. Some people who like to spar are intelligent, well informed, well researched and worthy of respect whilst some, well, they just aren't.

[Renegadenemo]

Joe Public will get some clear concise accurate information as to where and when K7 will be running in 2019 .
Some of us viewing public have flights to book and vacation arrangements to make with work etc etc .

That there's no solid info is not down to us. We face all the same problems as a team. I told Coniston to do a proper job of 2020 but they are telling us we're all going there in July when we don't even have permission to run. We can go back to Bute and put on a fuller event now that we know how to operate the boat, with talks, presentations, ground running an engine on the rig - that sort of thing, all with a proper itinerary but if we announce we're doing that that we'll be declared the villains for pulling the rug on Coniston. But how long do we wait? April? May? June? Everyone suffers that way but what choice do we have? Then there could be shenanigans over the running vs displaying agreements going forward with the whole enterprise suffering more delays. All of this is out of our hands so if it's concise and accurate info you want, sorry, we don't have it either.

Were it up to us to make the necessary arrangement our accommodation would be booked and you'd all know exactly what was going on.

[Malcolm Ops]

Can't comment on Mark-F except to confirm that he did request that his account be deactivated

Before he left Mark-F and I exchanged messages. His main concern was the style of 'debate' that the BBP crew members use.

Whilst I could not entirely agree with him, nor him with me, we parted cordially.

[Renegadenemo]

Before he left Mark-F and I exchanged messages. His main concern was the style of 'debate' that the BBP crew members use.

The style of debate tends to be dictated by the level of support and professionalism coming the other way and is a good indicator of the frustration level. We work hand in hand with many organisations towards a common goal in perfect harmony with little or no debate. On the flip side we tried to work with the museologists who would never in a million years have allowed K7 to so much as get wet let alone run again under her own power. That was an interesting style of debate. And what about the Hapless Lottery Failure who wanted to display a wreck that Gina vowed to their faces would not be displayed as a wreck. Then they wanted to put the wreck they couldn't display in Manchester or Bristol and put a replica in Coniston and that's without their 'no one under the age of forty would be interested' joke. That brought out the worst debating style ever. Strange that our aerospace partners, rivet and paint suppliers or the Isle of Bute don't have this effect so if anyone wishes to question the debating style they ought to at least have a good look at the cause before commenting on the effect.