Weetman Bridge

The A513 road out of Stafford, heading in the direction of Rugeley, skirts the edges of Cannock Chase. Let us start with the construction of the Weetman Bridge and its possible connection to some of the many ‘unexplained’ stories on Cannock Chase. In July 1884, Mr. Joseph Weetman was a beneficiary of the estate of Mr Francis James Sumner, a cotton manufacturer who lived in Glossop, who had died intestate. Land to the value of £200,000 went to his cousin Mr John Sumner who lived in Alderton, Gloucestershire, the remainder to his other cousins, including the two Weetman brothers - George and Joseph. Joseph was a farmer, and lived at ‘The Hanyards’, Tixall, for sixty years. Three years later the Staffordshire Chronicle (26 March 1887) reported on a reception at Little Haywood for Mr. Joseph Weetman at his taking up of his new residence in the village. Festoons of evergreens bearing appropriate mottoes, were suspended across the road. A triumphal arch was erected at the entrance to the grounds to Mr. Weetman’s residence, and flags and other signs of welcome were displayed from the windows of a number of houses in the village. When Joseph Weetman, accompanied by his daughters, arrived in the village, a great many of the inhabitants escorted his carriage to the house, where ‘another genuine round of cheering was given’. A letter of welcome was presented to Mr. Weetman who responded with an impromptu speech. After Joseph Weetman had arrived in Little Haywood, he interested himself in many ways for the benefit of the neighbourhood, and particularly in the creation of the new bridge over the River Trent, which had been mainly accomplished through his munificent contribution to the funds. It is believed he had ‘enthusiastically cajoled’ the workmen, knowing that his health was rapidly failing, by warning them he would come back to haunt the bridge if they did not finish it before he died. Joseph Weetman was a devout Catholic who had generously supported Great Haywood’s Catholic Church, funding much of its interior restoration. In appreciation, His Holiness Pope Leo XIII sent him a telegram from Rome. His neighbours had cordially hoped he might live to see the bridge completed. However, less than a year later (February 1888) the Staffordshire Chronicle announced the death of Joseph Weetman, in his 84th year, at his residence in Little Haywood. Barely three months later (May 1888) the new stone bridge over the Trent was formally opened to the public by Weetman’s daughters, who lived at the ‘Wren’s Nest,’ Little Haywood. Owing to the death of Joseph Weetman, the ceremony of opening the bridge was conducted in as private a manner as possible, but when the carriage containing the Misses Weetman arrived at the bridge, a number of the village’s inhabitants were assembled to receive them. The Reverend B. J. Butland offered up the following prayer: ‘Bless, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this work of our hands, which this day we place under Thy Holy protection, and dedicate to the use Thy creatures. Give, O Lord, a safe passage to all who pass by this way, and grant that Thy Holy Angel may watch over their welfare, that they may use in Thy service, the gifts which Thou bestowest, through Christ Our Lord, Amen.’ The carriage then drove across the bridge and back again, three hearty cheers were then given, and the ceremony for opening the bridge was complete. The bridge cost about £1,300 at the time (just under £200,000 today), is about two hundred feet in length and the roadway is eleven feet wide. It spans the River Trent on seven arches of blue-bricks, and rests on brick and Rugeley stone piers. The coping of the parapet is of stone, and the parapet on each side of the central arch has ‘two recesses for the convenience of foot passengers in the event either vehicles or cattle are passing over the bridge at the same time’. In the parapet over the central arch is placed a stone bearing the following inscription: This bridge was erected by public subscription; but mainly through the liberality of Joseph Weetman, Esq., of Little Haywood, in the year 1887-8. Robert Griffith, architect. C. J. Nevitt, A.M.I.C.E., contractor. The ‘Weetman’ Bridge as it has become known is a good example of Victorian engineering prowess. However, just over a century later (August 1988) a couple driving across Cannock Chase late one summer night saw a glowing 30ft object, partly shrouded in mist, which silently lifted off in front of them. Weetman’s Bridge was the scene of that allegedly remarkable UFO encounter. August 1988 was a time of unparalleled UFO activity and sightings in the Midlands, and Cannock Chase was described as a ‘hot spot’ for sightings. The couple were heading for Little Haywood when they saw “this big cloud of smoke, but with lights flashing in it in a ring, all different colours. “It was hanging, hovering over the hedge and half way across the road and you couldn’t hear a thing,” they said. They watched the object for up to a minute before it flew off. But what makes this case stand out is the hard evidence of the sightings in the form of crumpled and crushed dead hedges and trees – making this a ‘close encounter of the second kind’ (the ‘first’ kind being the sighting of a UFO, the ‘third’ kind is seeing occupants, ‘fourth’ an abduction and/or alien experiments on a person inside a craft, the ‘fifth’ direct communication). The couple returned a few days later with a press photographer and claimed to have seen two men in a white Land Rover taking samples from the area. An investigation by the British UFO Research Association was carried out two months later; their conclusion was that it may have been a ‘natural phenomenon’. Ten years later, that explanation did not satisfy two members of SUFOG (Stafford UFO Group) – Graham Allen and Robbie Graham - who went over the investigation and found major shortcomings in the original report. They re-interviewed the couple and other key witnesses and searched through official files from the time. Using this greater hindsight the pair placed the sighting in the context of the wave of apparent UFO activity over the area that year. They also found a possible third witness, from The Moorings, Colwich, who described the same sight at the bridge at the same time of night, but could not recall which day in August she saw it. Graham, SUFOG’s director of investigations found there were eight Ministry of Defence files on the sightings, more than is normal - and all were still classified. They confidently speculated that the two men with the Land Rover seen taking samples were from the Ministry of Defence. They believed if they were UFOlogists, they would have approached and interviewed the couple. The Ministry of Defence at the time stated its only interest in UFOs related to the issue of defence and they did not investigate further unless a sighting posed a threat to security. Robert said at the time, “The Ministry does not just take an interest in this case, on the contrary, they have files on other UFO sightings from that UFO wave.” He said the secret status of the Ministry of Defence files shows it was not a mere ‘natural phenomenon’. However, what the couple actually saw remains a mystery. The phenomenon could have a simpler explanation – ‘ball lightning’ which does not always make contact with the ground in the same way as ‘ordinary’ lightning. The damage is usually much less – was this what the men in the Land Rover were studying? There are examples of ball lighting being experienced in homes and travelling along the aisles of airplanes, much to the alarm of passengers. Those who study paranormal events have another perspective, known as ‘The Stone Tapes Theory’. Buildings (and locations) are considered by some to ‘record’ major events (executions, explosions, battles etc) or the presence of important historical figures (Mary Queen of Scots incarcerated in Tutbury and Chartley Castles in Staffordshire for example). These buildings and/ or locations then 'pause – rewind - replay' an event somehow. Perhaps specific conditions (weather, anniversary of an event) facilitate this ‘retelling’. Is that what happened a century after the Weetman Bridge was opened? Did Joseph Weetman return to express his displeasure at the bridge not being completed until after his death? Did E.T ‘phone home’ after the close encounter? Or did the couple in fact simply see a ‘natural phenomenon’? Next time, we cross the A513 and explore the area around the Seven Springs…..