Donald Campbell CBE was the obsessive holder of world land and water speed records and died in Coniston lake on January 4 1967 while trying to break his own record. Possibly striking a log the jet powered Bluebird had disintegrated at around 300 miles an hour.He is said to have yearned to emulate his father Sir Malcolm Campbell, in setting speed records on land and on water. He had broken the world water speed record seven times in 10 years when the accident happened. Having hit 202.32mph on Ullswater in July 1955, he bettered it on December 31, 1964, at Dumbleyung Lake, Australia when he reached 276.33mph. His penchant for record breaking brought him back to Coniston for a final time. His last reported words heard over the intercom were "She’s going, she’s going".

In December 2000 divers testing underwater cameras came on the wreckage. Underwater surveyor, Bill Smith found the wreck at 150 feet half buried in silt. Donald Campbell’s body was never found at the time of the tragedy. In March 2001 Bluebird was recovered from the lake bed . Campbell's widow Tonie Bern Campbell, 64 watched it emerge from the lake. The tail was undamaged but the front cockpit area was completely crushed. The Coniston Institute and Ruskin Museum Charitable Trust now want to provide a permanent home for the remains of Bluebird and are seeking permission for a 10m by 10m extension to the Museum to house it.

The son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, Donald was born on March 23rd 1921. He was not entirely destined to follow his father, but after his father's death he could do no other thing. Donald's early attempts at records began with the Water-speed record, he used the boat K4 for his early forays but despite some valiant efforts he struggled with the boat that his father used. He suffered a 170Mph crash in 1951. This prompted him to develop a completely new boat,the K7.

This was to prove a formidable boat that was to see him set 7 World Water-Speed records between 1955 and 1964. The first was Ullswater where he set a record of 202Mph. This was raised to 216mph at Lake Mead in 1955. Then began a sequence of record raising runs at Coniston where he finally attained 248mph in 1958. He finally raised it to 276mph in 1964 at Lake Dumbleyung in 1964. The application is supported by a letter from the Curator of the museum stating that Bluebird is part of Coniston’s heritage and the people of Coniston "believe most strongly" that the craft belongs in the town as a "permanent memorial to a great British hero". In August 2001 the Barrow in Furness coroner decided that based on DNA evidence the remains found near the wreck of Bluebird were those of the late Donald Campbell. His daughter, Gina Campbell, 51, from Leeds, can at last officially hold an official service following the loss of her father, who died when she was just 17.

DNA tests taken from her and compared with the remains found in the water were confirmed as matching.

The funeral service at Coniston Parish Churchyard took place in September 2001. Donald Campbell has finally been given a permanent headstone on the edge of Coniston Water 35 years after his death.