Cumbria stories you might have missed this week

Escaped cows were pulled from quicksand near Newton Arlosh

Escaped cows rescued from the sand, a campaign to save a critical care unit and residents left in shock over rent rises in a tourist hotspot - here are some of the stories from Cumbria you might have missed this week.

Bluebird returns 70 years on

Bluebird has been displayed near Glenridding Pier at Ullswater

The return of Donald Campbell's Bluebird to the spot where the adventurer set his first water speed world record 70 years ago is "humbling", his daughter says.

Campbell clocked 202.32mph (325.6km/h) aboard the hydroplane at Ullswater, in the Lake District, in 1955 and the craft was on show near Glenridding Pier to mark the milestone.

Gina Campbell said her father had shown resilience to set the record at a time when many experts believed a boat could not reach such a speed without breaking up.

He died in 1967 when Bluebird somersaulted on Coniston Water as he attempted to push one of his subsequent records past 300mph (480km/h).

• Read the full story on the return here

Calls to save hospital's critical care unit

Furness General Hospital has been sending its sickest patients to Lancaster since it temporarily suspended the level 3 unit

A petition urging the NHS to reconsider permanently removing the highest level of intensive care at a hospital hit 12,000 signatures.

Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) intends to close the level 3 unit at Furness General Hospital, in Barrow-in-Furness, due to staff shortages and demand.

One of those who signed, Rosemary McGerty, 77, who lives in a retirement apartment complex nearby, said plans to send the sickest patients more than an hour's drive away were "very, very worrying".

The ICB said those patients would be stabilised at the hospital before being transferred to Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

• More details here

Cows stuck in sand rescued

The cows were rescued by the fire service with the help of local farmers

Four cows were rescued after they broke out of their enclosure and got trapped in quicksand.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said it had received reports of the animals being stuck up to their necks near Newton Arlosh.

It said the cows had broken through a gate overnight and entered a river, but thankfully it was "an udderly good ending for all".

• Read more about their rescue here

'Shock' rent rises

Residents of the building on Compston Road said the rise was unaffordable

A tenant living in a tourist hotspot said he was left in shock when his landlord told him his rent would rise by 40%.

Tim Greaves lives in a one bedroom flat on Compston Road in Ambleside.

He said he received an email from his lettings agent notifying him of a £225 monthly rise.

He claimed others living in the flat-block had also been hit with rises and were concerned about their options, saying: "There's nowhere to move, not a shoebox - nothing."

• Read all about it here

Mosque abuse leads to extra patrols

Planning permission for the South Lakes Islamic Centre was granted in 2022

Police patrols are being stepped up following a rise in online abuse directed against the construction of a new mosque.

The South Lakes Islamic Centre in Dalton-in-Furness is being spearheaded by a group of Muslim doctors at Barrow's Furness General Hospital.

Last month, UKIP leader Nick Tenconi filmed himself visiting the site and shouting "traitor" at several of the site's construction workers.

Mr Tenconi said he had "deliberately stood up" for the people of Dalton and criticised the local authority for allowing the "Islamic caliphate" into Britain.

• For all the details on this story click here