This haunting doesn’t take
place in London but rather in Lake Havasu located in northwestern Arizona. In
the early 1960s the 1831 stone bridge * that spanned the River Thames in London
was deemed unsafe. This bridge was literally falling down--ironically it was
this bridge that inspired the children’s rhyme “London Bridges Falling Down”.
The English authorities decided to sell it in 1962.
Two Americans, a city planner
and theme-park designer C.V. Wood and a Havasu founder Robert P. McCullach
quickly bought it. But they got more than they bargained for because this
bridge is haunted.
Living in the Southwest, I
remember I was surprised when it was announced that Arizona had acquired the
London Bridge. I read with interest, descriptions of how the bridge was
disassembled, transported and then rebuilt over the Bridgewater Channel in the
Arizona desert. As the stones were removed they were numbered carefully--once
they arrived at Lake Havasu it took craftsmen three years to figure out the
puzzle and put these stones back together.
The bridge was rededicated in
1971, the Lord Major of London presented at the ceremony. It was during this
dedication that the ghosts were witnessed for the first time. A female first noticed four people dressed in
old-fashioned clothing walking over the bridge. She thought they must be actors
hired to add atmosphere to the ceremony. Slowly others spotted the group of
four as well. To everyone’s surprise these four people vanished into thin air.
Lake Havasu over the years
has become a major tourist attraction--especially during Spring Break season.
The London Bridge has a lot of car and foot traffic.
Many people have reported
seeing men and women dressed in odd out of date clothing walking casually
across the bridge. Some visitors have described being bumped by unseen entities
as they stand on the bridge. One ghost that has been seen a lot is that of a
lady dressed in a black dress. She clutches a purse closely to her as she walks slowly along the bridge. She is also seen at night jumping off the bridge. Witnesses’
state that she then just disappears-- she is never seen falling into the water
below.
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