Fording a body of water, like a river, is something that humans have done throughout our entire existence. Though we started out on foot and then progressed to horseback, the process has always been the same – get from one side to the other with yourself, your possessions and your transport intact. You’d think, given the technological and mechanical advances that we’ve made just over the last century or two, that this would be a piece of cake nowadays.
Well, allow us to put forward Rufford Ford as a counter-argument. While this particular crossing is not new, it has recently found an increased level of fame thanks to social media, with ‘fail compilations’ doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter, while “the algorithm” puts the video onto many YouTube users suggested video lists.
‘Hold on, though’, we hear you cry – surely it’s not the vehicles that are at fault, but rather the drivers in control of them who embarrassingly and expensively misjudge the situation and gun it, full speed, into water windscreen-deep, flooding the engine and filling the footwells. For the most part, you’d probably be correct, although the videos show that even some genuine off-roaders can’t cope with the notorious Rufford Ford.
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Rufford Ford In Action
Check out the video below to see just one of many, many compilations of Rufford Ford claiming the lives of numerous cars and vans.
Where is Rufford Ford?
The Rufford Ford crossing is roughly between Sheffield and Nottingham, though still falls within the historic Sherwood Forest-encompassing county. The address is listed as 9-2 Rufford Ln, Newark NG22 9DG, with Google even classifying the location as a tourist attraction!
Want to visit? At the end of the day, it’s just a road, so you can head on over whenever you like. However, if you want to really see the sights – and by that, we mean £50,000 BMWs bobbing helplessly in the water – there are certain times that you should aim to arrive.
When To Visit Rufford Ford
It’s not unreasonable to think that many drivers in the UK have never seen an actual ford before. There are just over 2,000 fords across the country, meaning that they’re not a common sight. Therefore, it may not be obvious that at certain times of the year and after particular types of weather, these roads could go from being barely an inconvenience to utterly impassable unless your car is amphibious.
If you want to get the most out of your trip, go during or after some heavy rain. Perhaps not days on end of torrential downpours, as the road could be closed entirely, but after some substantial rain, water levels will be high enough to really test the drivers and cars that tackle the ford.
UPDATE: Rufford Ford Closure
Nothing lasts forever, and while the Rufford Ford is still filled with gallons and gallons of water, the road itself has been closed by police claiming (probably rightly so) that the social media attention and impromptu tourism has encouraged dangerous driving.
As videos of countless drivers continue to be uploaded to YouTube and social media, including one of a moronic moped rider hitting the water at full speed before tumbling down the road like an out of control gymnast, it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand.
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