The Man on the Bridge

From: 
Story type: Ghost
Location: United Kingdom
Source: Form Submission
Date submitted: Fri Jan  7 11:29:35 2011

The Man on the Bridge

This story seems to be like an adaptation of a classic ghost story, a bus driver sees someone waiting at a bus stop, and when the doors open, there is no one there.

The bus driver believes the person at the bus stop is real. It is only after he has stopped and opened the doors, and no one is there, he can only conclude he has seen a ghost. This is can only be the explanation for my story too.

In 2009, every morning before I open my shop, I took a little exercise around Torquay harbour. I routinely walked across the Torquay harbour bascule bridge, to the south pier, to look at the boats in the new marina. But during this particular week in March 2009, the bridge was closed for maintenance. So I had to walk the other way round the harbour, along Victoria Parade, and then to come back the same way.

A few days later, from the other side of the harbor, I could see someone wearing a red coat and a base ball cap, walking across the bridge. I thought, the bridge must be open again. I watched the figure cross the bridge to make sure he wasn’t a maintenance engineer. Sure enough the figure passed the centre pillars and crossed the bridge without even looking at the equipment left by the engineers. Convinced the bridge was once more open to the public again, I decided to cross the bridge on my return journey.

When I reached the bridge on my way back, I found the bridge was bared by an impassable high fence, securely secured by thick steel cable ties to the railings on South Pier. The same was true for the other side of the bridge. The only way someone could cross the bridge, was for the barriers to be dismantled. Not only had the mystery person disappeared without a trace, it was impossible for anybody to have crossed the bridge.

Was the man on the bridge a ghost? This question would not have risen if the bridge had not been closed and fenced off. This leads to my next question; how many ghosts do we see without knowing they are ghosts?