Bluebird returns to Coniston

When Donald Campbell died on Coniston Water in Cumbria in January 1967, attempting to break his own water speed record it was, to many people, the end of an era. Many would always remember where they were when the images of Bluebird K7, the jet hydroplane he was piloting, crashing and disintegrating on the lake appeared on TV screens and the story broke across the world.

In March 2001, after 34 years underwater, Donald Campbell’s ill-fated craft was raised from the deep by wreck-finder and engineer, Bill Smith. Later that year, at the request of Donald’s daughter Gina, his remains were also recovered - and in September 2021 he was finally laid to rest in the churchyard at Coniston. A painstaking restoration project began and in 2026, over 20 years after she was raised from the depths, Bluebird is set to finally return to Coniston Water.

Caz Graham visits Coniston Water to discover what Bluebird means to the Lake District as she returns to the water 70 years after Donald Campbell set the water speed record in 1956.

Producer: Helen Lennard