50 years ago today Donald Campbell killed on Coniston

breaking the world water speed at over 300mph in Bluebird .
I remember it as though it was yesterday . Campbell and his father Malcolm great Brits with b**ls of steel.

 

I was only 2, but it was an iconic moment at the time. Often referenced later & in many an annual I had.
The 60's saw a lot of that kind of stuff with the moon landings & space race in general.
Since then technology has moved in other ways, mainly computer related.

RIP Donald, yer mad *******. x

 

Did 300mph 50 years ago and the water-speed record now stands at 317mph.
Remember it as though it was yesterday. Did they ever find his body?

 

I think they found it around 2000/01 when they recovered the vehicle. Minus his head apparently.

 

I've been to Coniston many times since the 1980s and it's an eerie place when you stand down by the water and look down the length of it, trying to imagine what happened then.

I've not been back since they opened a Bluebird museum exhibit but it's not even in Coniston, which is a bit disappointing.

Anyone going to the lakes should make a point of going there. Forget Windermere and Ambleside - too many tourists. The village of Coniston and the surrounding area is fantastic. Go across the water to Brantwood and look back at the towering Old Man of Coniston. Stunning on a misty day. I liked it so much that I adopted the name as part of my email address when I first used a PC.

 

I think Navy divers actually found it at the time , but it was decided to leave it alone .