SPEED record breaker Donald Campbell was remembered at a special event at Samlesbury Hall, to mark 60 years since his jet-powered boat was built at the historic home.

His daughter Gina Campbell was a guest as two plaques were unveiled on Sunday, while a replica of the Bluebird K7 made a special appearance.

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The original boat, in which Campbell was killed a split second before breaking his own water speed record in 1967, was built by Samlesbury Engineering, which stood on the site of Golf Centre.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Gina said: “It was a brilliant event and the energy of everyone who’s organised it has been absolutely magic.

“It’s 60 years since the Bluebird went from being a dream to a reality.”

Her father, aged 46, was travelling at more than 300mph on Coniston Water in the Lake District when the boat was catapulted 50ft in the air, after its nose lifted.

Campbell, who had already broken seven water-speed records in Bluebird K7, was killed instantly as the boat hit the water, after it had dramatically flipped, and immediately disintegrated.

He was just 200 yards from the end of the second leg of his attempt when the accident happened.

On the first leg he had reached speeds of 297mph, which meant he had to top 308mph on the return journey.

His body was not recovered until 2001, 34 years after his death.

Campbell, who was from Surrey, broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s.

He remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year.

His death sent shockwaves throughout 1960s Britain where he was revered as a trailblazing daredevil.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The craft was built in the early 1950s at Samlesbury Engineering, next to Samlesbury Hall.

The factory, on a former World War Two training airfield, was founded by pioneer flyer Sir Wavell Wakefield, later Lord Wakefield of Kendal, and was a subsidiary of the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation at Warton, now part of BAE Systems.

Ken Norris, the main designer of Bluebird K7, was an aerodynamicist; the North West’s growing aerospace industry.

Bluebird K7 has been described as a cross between a Land Rover and a V-Bomber, utilising many alloys and construction techniques pioneered in the Cold War.

The designation ‘K7’ was derived from its Lloyd’s Insurance unlimited rating registration.

In 2007, Pendle engineer John Getty and his firm PDS Engineering, based in Nelson, started rebuilding the framework of the iconic vessel.

The firm had already worked on the land-speed record-breaking car Thrust SSC.

The wreck of the Bluebird had been recovered in 2001 by diver Bill Smith, who led the restoration project.

The damaged but relatively well-preserved frame was transported from Mr Smith’s premises in South Shields to PDS and painstakingly put back together and restored to its original glory.

The craft was cleared to return to Coniston Water in May 2009.

The Lake District National Park Authority gave permission for Bluebird K7 to reach 100mph on Coniston Water during a one-off trial.

Mr Getty praised the decision to relax the normally rigid 10mph limit as a milestone in the resurrection of the high-speed vessel.

PDS Engineering has recently won new contracts and extended its relationship with aerospace giant Rolls- Royce, which has two major plants, Bankfield and Ghyll Brow, in Barnoldswick, bringing hopes of expansion and new jobs.