Roads and bridges
Sterne Bridge
A sombre tale
Sterne Bridge in Copley has acquired a certain literary air. Its name comes from the local Sterne family, who lived at nearby Wood Hall. Among their members was Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), author of Tristram Shandy.
Until the present bridge was erected in 1914, a rather slender wooden bridge crossed the River Calder at this point, and acquired a certain reputation following a tragedy in the 19th century.
The story varies as to whether a young girl making her way down from Norland Moor on a December evening in the 1800s was on her way to meet her father or mother, but both versions agree that a snow-storm caught her on her way. When the storm had abated, and people went searching for the little girl, her footsteps could be followed only as far as the middle of the bridge. Again, the story diverges here, some saying that she was never found, others that she was later found drowned, but local legend believed she still walked the bridge at midnight on the fateful day. However, vigils mounted by local residents have failed to confirm this.
William Wordsworth, hearing of the tragedy, wrote the poem, ‘Lucy Gray’:
Yet some maintain that to this day
she is a living child,
that you may see sweet Lucy Gray
upon the lonesome wild.
O'er rough and smooth she trips along,
and never looks behind;
and sings a solitary song
that whistles in the wind.
But one might wonder what came first – the ghostly legend or the sentimental poem?
