Thousands flock to Coniston to see legendary Bluebird

Donald Campbell’s Bluebird K7 has made the Ruskin Museum one of the best tourist destinations in the Lake District, with over sixteen thousand people visiting in the first two months.

Bluebird returned to Coniston village after years of negotiation, and its homecoming was met with celebration; thousands of people clapped and cheered as the boat was taken through the streets to be installed in the Ruskin Museum's Bluebird wing. Its journey also received widespread coverage from the regional and national press.

Museum Director Tracy Hodgson said: “The nationwide surge of interest in Bluebird and her story has continued in the form of the ‘Bluebird effect’, where more people than ever are now visiting the village just to see K7.”

She added: “As soon the museum opened, we were inundated with people wishing to see the famous hydroplane. Between March 1^st and 31^st, we saw more than six thousand people through the door even though we were closed for ten days.”

Tracy said: “The numbers for April show that some ten thousand, four hundred and thirteen people visited the museum. Bluebird has put the Ruskin Museum and Coniston back on the map and has given a huge boost to tourism in the Lake District.

‘’The museum and its trustees are delighted; the increase in earnings will enable us to look after the boat going forward and carry out any work that will be required to allow it to run on Lake Coniston when the time is right.” 

She added: “We have seen visitors from all over the world, including one gentleman who travelled from the United States specifically to visit K7. There has also been an abundance of young people who have heard the story of Donald Campbell’s record-breaking and who wanted to see the boat for themselves.”