Two years ago this month, Shirley and I visited the Rufford Abbey estate north of Mansfield. I blogged about that visit here. To the north of the country park we came across a ford near Rufford Mill. It allowed vehicles to cross a little river called Rainworth Water. I took a picture of a white van crossing the ford when the water level wasn't very deep.
Since our visit, the ford has become a bit of a TikTok phenomenon. Many short films have been made of vehicles negotiating or failing to negotiate the ford and the footage has attracted worldwide interest.
I have just spent a mesmerising half an hour checking out a small number of those TikTok filns and I would like to share three of them with you...
3. Boy on bike
If you search for "Rufford ford" within TikTok or without you can look at dozens more videos taken at the ford.
It has been a place of fun, daredevil drives, soakings and vehicles conking out. As far as I know, nobody has been drowned and nobody has been injured but some drivers have ended up blushing with embarrassment.
The ford used to be a local secret but now that its fame has spread, the police in league with Nottinghamshire County Council have decided to shut the road and substantial concrete barriers have been installed. Spoilsports! This also means that local residents now have to undertake a 1.5 mile detour to get to the opposite side of Rufford Lane.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/eSoQfcC
