Am I just a bridge
A way between here and there
Inviting passage?

*
Do I tame the stream
Or am I yoked to its flow
Ever immobile?

*

Or am I water
Married to both bank and stone
Giving them purpose?

*

The photo for last week’s prompt was taken beside the East Dart River, at Postbridge on Dartmoor. The bridge is an old one, dating from the 1780s, but it stands beside a more ancient bridge that was built around eight hundred years ago.

There are many legends on Dartmoor, and the stretch of road around Postbridge has its own. The tale of the Hairy Hands, however, is more than a curiosity… it has, according to the reports, claimed lives.

Since the advent of motor vehicles in the early part of the 20th century, drivers have been reporting a pair of disembodied hairy hands that grasp the steering wheel or handlebars of their vehicle, forcing the driver to fight for control and often driving them off the road.

Most victims survive, ending up on the verge beside the road. Some, however, have been killed. The accounst of the victims are remarkably similar, and these are not impressionable folk, but reputable people, including a captain in the army and journalist and author, Rufus Endle, who left an account of the experience but asked that, to avoid ridicule, it be published only after his death.

The official line taken was that the accidents were due to the camber of the road that was dangerous in places, and measures were taken to improve the roads. Unofficially, though, the legend persists…and those who have driven across Dartmoor when the mists come down can testfy that, Hairy Hands or not, it is a strange and unearthly place.

*

Thank you so much to everyone who took part this week. I reblogged as many as I could and all the posts are listed below, so please click on the links to read them and leave a comment for the author! Thank you too, to everyone who reblogged the prompt, round up and the individual resposes!

A new prompt will be published later today. I will reblog as many contributions as space and time allows, as they come in… and all of them will be featured in the round-up on Thursday.

Pingbacks do not always come through… if you have written a post for this challenge and it does not appear in the round-up, please leave a link to your post in the comments and I will add it to the list.

Come and join in!

Many thanks to this weeks contributors:

Ade-Oluwa

Hayley R. Hardman at The Story Files

Carolyn Dennis-Willingham

Balroop Singh at Emotional Shadows

Jan Malique at Strange Goings On in the Shed

Deepa at Sync with Deep

Bobby Fairfield

pensitivity101

Willow Willers at willowdot21

Geoff Le Pard at Tangental

A Heart for Africa

Eric Pone at Backyard Knowledge

A Thousand Shades of Awesomeness

Deborah at A Wise Woman’s Journey

Kerfe at methodtwomadness

Deborah’s Deliberations

Notes to Women

Michael at Morpeth Road

Wallie’s Wentletrap

Dorinda Duclos at Night Owl Poetry

Iain Kelly

James Pyles at Powered by Robots

Annette Rochelle Aben

Lady Lee Manila

Reena Saxena

Trent P. McDonald

Sisyphus at Of Glass and Paper

Rosemary Carlson, Writer

Joelle LeGendre at Two on a Rant

Anita Dawes and Jaye Marie

Ritu Bhathal at But I Smile Anyway

Frank Hubeny

Robbie Cheadle

Alethea Kehas at Not Tomatoes

Ashwini at Kaleidoscope of My Life