ne of the most controversial acts to have taken place at Coniston in recent years was the raising of Bluebird from the lake bed during the spring of 2001. It is probably fair to say that the majority of those born and bred in the village were against any form of salvage. The general opinion was that the wreck should be left where it had been lying for the previous 34 years.
Nevertheless, the project continued despite local misgivings. The position of Bluebird had been accurately located the previous August. This had created quite a significant risk which was that souvenir hunters would systematically start to strip the wreck. There was also a feeling within the Campbell family that the wreck should be raised, restored and put on permanent display in the village. As a result, the salvage operation commenced in February 2001, unfortunately without any consultation with the community of Coniston for their opinion or approval.
Despite this initial unsympathetic approach it has to be said that the project to locate the boat and the subsequent salvage, which was carried out by Bill Smith of Newcastle, was a triumph of skill, stamina and technology. To the lay person a project to raise a wreck, which was only 150 feet below the surface, might seem easy. In reality the difficulties were immense. It is impossible for us to understand the extremely hostile conditions existing below the familiar surface of our lake.
Salvage operations started with the assembly of two large barges on the car park of the Bluebird Café at the lake shore. Once completed the barges became a floating platform which could hold the lifting crane and the mass of underwater equipment needed for the salvage operation to proceed. The platform was launched on March 2^nd, towed out to a point above the wreck and secured with ropes to concrete blocks which had been placed on the lake bed.
Next day, with the assistance of a remote operating vessel, divers started to secure lifting lines to the wreck. Once complete the delicate operation was started to lift the craft clear of the thick glutinous mud on the lake bed, without causing any further damage. This took several days and was completed on March 7^th with the help of hydraulic lifting bags. By the close of play that day Bluebird had been raised from the lake bed and was hanging from the floating platform, just below the lake surface, by its lifting lines.
The following day the salvage was completed. The team arrived at the Bluebird Café at 4:30 am, to be met by TV crews who were already in position. Once out on the platform Bluebird was checked and found not to have suffered any harm after a night suspended from the lifting lines. When all was ready the securing lines holding the platform to the blocks on the lake bed were released and the platform, with Bluebird hanging underneath, slowly moved up the lake towards the Bluebird Café.
A large crowd had assembled by this time to watch the operation. When close to the shore the lifting bags were deflated and Bluebird was allowed to settle back onto the bed of the lake while the recovery trailer was brought into position. The team knew that lifting Bluebird onto the trailer was never going to be an easy job, but eventually all was secure and the recovery trailer was slowly winched towards the shore.
First the tail fin and then the bulk of Bluebird herself cleared the surface of the lake. At this point a degree of apprehension ran through the watching crowd. It was an especially poignant moment for those who had been involved in the record attempt thirty-four years earlier and for the few present who had actually witnessed the disaster. Understandably many Coniston people had decided to stay away.
Two days later Bluebird was load ed onto a lorry, covered with a tarpaulin and by 4 pm the same day was safely delivered to a factory building on Tyneside where stabilisation and some degree of restoration was to be carried out.

Since the salvage operation, the team returned to the crash site several times to look for additional sections of Bluebird. Inevitably, during one of these visits, the body of Donald Campbell was located, a short distance away from where the wreck had been found. Gina Campbell, Donald's only daughter, had especially requested then to look out for him. "Find my dad" she had asked, "I want to put him somewhere warm".
Soon after the body was located it was recovered with great dignity and with the full co-operation of the coroner and police. A casket was lowered onto the lake bed and the remains were placed in it. On Bank Holiday Monday the casket was lifted onto the team's boat and covered with the union flag. It was then brought to Pier Cottage. While still out on the lake a short impromptu service was carried out by the salvage team as they waited for the coroner to arrive.
News of the location and recovery of the body again shattered the village. However most people quickly came round to the opinion that, whereas recovery of the boat was questionable, recovery of the body was a legitimate act which would allow a proper burial to take place in Coniston at a later date.
There was one final act of recovery that was carried out by the team. Gina Campbell was aware that her father would have been wearing a small gold medallion round his neck during the record attempt. It had been given to him many years earlier by his father. The team was asked to see if they could find it. The outcome of this is best left to the writings of Bill Smith, on the project web site:
Against all the odds, we successfully recovered Donald's gold St Christopher from around his neck. Gina had asked us many times whether we thought we could get it back. All I could say was "don't hold your breath". After all it was a tiny gold medal on a piece of cord. It was inscribed "To Donald from Daddy, Nov 1940". When we brought it aboard the boat, five grown men cried. As long as I live I will never forget Gina's face when we gave her that little gold medal on the end of the jetty at Pier Cottage from which her Dad had left 34 years earlier.
It took some time to complete the DNA analysis to confirm the body was that of Donald Campbell. Once completed, funeral arrangements could be made………………………..