ll Coniston people, will remember exactly where they were and what they were doing at 8.55am on the morning of January 4^th 1967. Within the space of a few seconds an event took place which would have an effect on the village for many decades to come.
Donald Campbell had been in Coniston for several weeks, waiting for suitable conditions to allow him to attempt the world water speed record. On that cold but calm winters morning Campbell realised that conditions were as perfect as they ever could be. He was aiming to achieve 300 mph. On his first run, down the lake, he recorded a speed of 297 mph over the measured kilometre. On his return Bluebird was travelling at close to 320 mph when the bows lifted and the craft somersaulted, crashed and almost immediately disappeared from view.
Back at the base, at the head of the lake, the team knew there had been an accident. The noise of Bluebird's engines had suddenly ceased and they had seen the cloud of spray. But it took the radio message from the team doctor, Stephen Darbishire, to confirm it, "There has been a complete accident, I am afraid". To the stunned team members and onlookers this brief message spelt the end of an era.
The association of the Campbell family with Coniston started twenty eight years earlier. Donald's father, Malcolm Campbell was already well known as the holder of both land and water world speed records when he decided to come to Coniston for another record attempt on the lake. The year was 1939 and war was about to break out. The attempt was successful and within a few weeks of war being declared Malcolm had achieved a new speed record on Coniston of 141 mph. After the war he made further attempts on the record but his health was beginning to take its toll. Many Coniston people will remember him at this time, a pleasant and friendly man but one who was autocratic and demanding of his team and did not wish to mix with local people. He died on New Years Eve, 1948.
The death of his father gave Donald the chance to become the natural successor.  His father's team had developed a new jet-engined craft, Bluebird K4 and it was now up to him to take over the project and prove the craft. Over the next few years Donald raised the record progressively at a number of locations around the world. In 1951 K4 was abandoned, after coming to grief on Coniston during a disastrous run.
One can imagine his dilemma. Funds were running out and an American, Stanley Sayers, now held the water speed record of 178 mph. There was only one solution. A new boat was required. Bluebird K7 was designed by his own team of talented engineers. The craft was commissioned in 1956 and by the end of the year had re-gained the speed record of 216 mph on Lake Mead in the USA.
At the end of 1956 Donald Campbell decided to return to Coniston. Despite Coniston's fickle weather there were a number of advantages in carrying out record attempts there. The Lake was very suitable. It was straight and the right length for speed record attempts. There were good facilities and it was also much cheaper to operate there than in far away locations in the USA and Australia. There was another significant factor in his decision and that was his fondness for Coniston.   
Over the years Campbell had become a friend to the village and Coniston had adopted him as their own. He liked the people and clearly felt at home there. Prior to his last record attempt he had written that he had wanted to return to Coniston 'because the people had been so friendly' and they were having 'a rough time with the tourist industry'. Possibly one of the biggest factors was the way he was looked after at the Sun Hotel by Connie Robinson and her son Anthony. The friendship between the two families has continued to today.
Between 1956 and 1960 he became a regular visitor, progressively raising the record to an impressive 260 mph. Donald's quest for speed records was not just confined to water. He also was determined to gain the land speed record as well. A near fatal crash in the USA in 1960 did not deter him and in 1964 he gained what was probably his greatest accolade by capturing both the land and water speed records in the same year in Australia.
The figure of 300 mph for the water speed record seemed to be an ultimate goal, and one which Campbell was sure he could achieve, despite concerns from his mechanic Leo Villa. And so, in the winter of 1966, he returned to Coniston.
Bluebird arrived in Coniston by road on 2^nd November closely followed by the national and international press. During the subsequent few weeks the weather was extremely poor with gales and heavy rain. On the few days that runs were possible the team had difficulties getting Bluebird to ride correctly out of the water on her planing points. Eventually this problem was overcome but not before the paparazzi had had their say over the design of the boat and the fundamental feasibility of the project.
The weather improved during December so that further test runs took place allowing the team to make final adjustments to the boat. But despite the progress tensions were increasing. Campbell wanted to take Bluebird to the Boat Show in London in January and time was running out. Christmas was also approaching. The question on everyone's minds was whether they would be allowed home for the Christmas period.  Eventually the official timekeepers from Longines declared that they were going to return to Switzerland for Christmas and Campbell had no choice but to announce that there would be no more attempts until the 28^th December. 
Christmas day dawned a perfect 'Campbell Day'. Snow lay on the hills and the lake was like a mirror. Everyone in Coniston must have felt for Donald Campbell that morning. Here was a perfect day but there were no timekeepers and no team to make a record breaking run possible.
Then, amazingly, at about 11 am, the familiar sound of Bluebird's engine echoed round the fells. Despite lack of support, Donald, with the help of Stephen Darbishire, Anthony Robinson and several other local people, took Bluebird out onto the lake and achieved the fastest run to date in excess of 250 mph. Many local people remember this run very well. Far from being an intrusion the sound of Bluebird's engine on Christmas morning was a delight. Despite all the problems with the project, Coniston people had remained loyal to him and it was as if this was his Christmas present to them.
Two days later there was a repeat performance. This time, on another perfect day, Bluebird achieved speeds in excess of 280mph (and collided with a duck on the return run sustaining some damage to a spar). This was a world record but with no official timekeepers present there could be no corroboration.
One by one his team, followed by the press, trickled back to Coniston to continue the work. Eight days later Donald Campbell was dead and Bluebird lay on the lake bed. 

Continuation . . .                                             

"I was just finishing breakfast when I heard Bluebird's engine starting. It was a very familiar sound to us, it echoed round the fells and I knew that if I was quick I could get up to the top of the intake before the run took place. I put my boots on and just made the sheepfold in time to see Bluebird go down the lake and disappear behind the trees. She was obviously travelling very fast. I knew that normally it was about half an hour before the return run started so I walked further along the sheep track, above Bleathwaite Wood. Surprisingly it was only a few minutes before the engine roared again. There was still the wash from the first run on the surface, I'm sure of that, from this high point it was very clear. Bluebird came into view going bloody fast. Then suddenly the wash changed and there was a huge splash. In an instant the noise had gone and Bluebird had gone as well. I stood for a while watching a small boat chug down to the point where Bluebird had disappeared. Everything was very silent. Then the surface of the lake became covered with what looked like hundreds of small white polythene bags. I know exactly where I was standing and I have gone back there many times since….".

"I was having breakfast in my lodgings and there were a group of fellows from the Daily Express staying there. They got a phone message that conditions on the lake were good and Campbell was preparing to do a run. I was supposed to be catching the quarry wagon to work as normal but instead I went with them down to the lake shore just beyond Brantwood. Conditions seemed perfect and we saw Bluebird go down the lake and then, in no time, we heard him starting back. He might have been worried that the wind would pick up again. The boat crashed right opposite us. We waited a while then someone took me back to Coniston. Then I drove myself up to Broughton Moor to tell the lads but they had already heard the news……."

"We were driving up from Water Park to Coniston, up the back side of the lake. Just by Matchell Coppice there were lots of vehicles parked at the side of the road and we realised there was something up. We pulled over and went down to the shore. They said that Bluebird had gone down the lake and they were waiting for the return run. I was surprised that we hadn't seen or heard it. We stood and waited and Bluebird came up the lake really fast. I had never seen it so close. Suddenly it was up in the air and then there was a huge splash and it disappeared. The thing I remembered most was the quietness. When we got to work everyone had heard the news."