Old Clayton Bridge was built in the late 1800s and served as a way to get to one of the small marsh islands along Lake Brock. The island known colloquially as Sander’s Island, is one of several in the area but unlike the other islands, despite being the only one with a bridge, no-one visits it anymore. To ensure no-one does visit the sandy little atoll, that in the winter looses much of its width, the people of Beguile have erected a warning sign.
Old Clayton Bridge became known to the locals of Beguile as the Bridge of Tears. Sander’s Island, named by the earliest settlers in Beguile was looked upon as a place to fish or just enjoy. In the centre of the island is a copse of trees known as Honeymoon Grove.
The island was once said to be the venue for a large wedding feast. A young couple, children of early settlers in the area, had decided to get married. The father of the bride, Ebenezer Clayton built the bridge a few months prior to the planned celebrations. In the weeks leading up to the joyous nuptials decorations were taken across the little bridge and set up in the centre of the island, in the shady grove.
On the day of the wedding the sun was shining and the couple were married in the small Presbyterian Church, Knox Church. The entire entourage then made their way to Clayton Bridge, with much laughter and chatter on the way.
The festivities went on through the night. Gas lamps were strung along the copse of trees lighting the beautiful scene as the sun set. Much was eaten and drunk that night at the walnut table that had been carried over to the island for the celebration.
No one really knows exactly when the air took on a salty tang and thickened. And the high spirits and happiness of the twenty guests and the bride and groom seemed to have dulled their sense so they didn’t notice the moon disappearing behind clouds or the fog that was rolling in and engulfing the island in its heavy shroud.
The storm was one that was not expected and it came with a quick ferocity. By the time that the guests and the young newly married couple had started to move, everything was looking frantic in the flashing lightening that was slashing across the sky.
That night went down as a dark event in the history of Beguile with several of the founding families loosing loved ones. Only three people made it back. They explained that a storm had engulfed the island swamping it and dragging guests into the frothing water. When they had reached the bridge, their way to safety, the bridge had not been where it should have been. The three survivors had swum for their lives across the water.
For several days the lifeless bodies of the guests and finally the bride and groom, washed up along the shores of Lake Brock. The small graveyard at Knox Church became bloated with the victims of the tragic event. For many years there was talk about the bridge and why no-one could find it on that disastrous night. When the storm was over it stood undamaged exactly where it had been built.
They say that on stormy nights if you look across old Clayton Bridge you will see the lights from the gas lamps from that long ago celebration swinging wildly in the wind and hear the laughter and chatter of the long dead wedding guests.
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