‘I’m actively looking at moving’: Rufford Ford closure leaves locals dealing with extra traffic

Nottinghamshire County Council took a rather no-frills approach when the tourist spot blew up in popularity after going viral on the internet.

The concrete barriers they plonked at either end to block cars from driving through it are still there today. Once bustling with onlookers fascinated to see drivers take their chances at crashing through the water, the ford is now a desolate spot, devoid of activity.

That’s great news for those in the immediate vicinity, whose tolerance for the noise and nusiance undoubtedly grew tested as more and more people lined the streets each weekend before the closure in December 2022. But for others who live nearby, its been not such a blessing.

After all, the traffic that went through there has to find another way. So found out the residents of Ollerton village, not gradually, but quite quickly, as vehicles started to use their once-peaceful residential streets as an alternate route.

“I think it was quite sudden,” says Chrissy Homer, who lives on Kingstone Drive in Ollerton. Previously, she’d often use Bescar Lane, a 60mph road which once only ever saw farm vehicles on it, to walk to Rufford.

“Just after the closure, so many people would stop their car next to me as I walked down there and ask if they could get to the golf club this way.”

As people learnt, so the news spread, and Bescar Lane, between Kingstone Drive and Rufford Lane where the ford is, became a thoroughfare. The speedy, one-lane track now sees cars racing down it at full pelt.

“Me and my family moved here because it was quiet,” says Liz Phillips, who has lived on Tor Lane, on the corner of Bescar Lane, for 10 years, but grew up in the area.

“It’s at the point now where we’re thinking actually, this is getting too noisy, and we’re actively looking at moving because it’s got so much busier.”

Ollerton is no stranger to traffic issues. For years, build-ups during rush hour lead to tailbacks of hundreds of metres from the roundabout that connects the A614 with the A616.

But now, to get to villages like Wellow, which is home to a large school, drivers have no choice but to carry on past Rufford Lane, once the route, and up the A614, making traffic even worse. So some drivers, instead of waiting in the huge queues, divert through Ollerton using Station Road, which leads onto Kingstone Drive, Tor Lane and Bescar Lane.

But like Bescar Lane, Station Road is also very narrow, which means drivers have to give way. Some don’t, says resident Rob Lilley, who watches carnage unfold outside his house on his CCTV cameras on a regular basis.

“I’ve had to call the police on two occasions because drivers have been squaring up in the road,” says Rob, 69. “It’s bizarre, absolutely bizarre. I’m expecting a car coming through my lounge window at any moment because of the way that people drive up here.

“The Ford should be reopened. I have every sympathy with the people who live in Rufford. Money does need to be spent up there. Make it a chicane where you can’t drive straight through, you have to negotiate. But the actual closure is like a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There doesn’t seem to be much thought gone into it.”

Back on Bescar Lane, some still brave the walk. One woman, walking down there with her children when the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited, agrees it has become much busier since the ford closed.

Horse-riders still use the track. But Liz says she never takes her dog down there any more, and some cyclists have given it up, the ladies say, as has Rob, who once mountain biked down there when you’d see “maybe a tractor” on the way down.

Now you have to be “very careful”, he says. Chrissy agrees.

“I walked down there on Saturday morning and eight cars passed me,” she said. “Only one slowed down for me. I’ve had some come within 12 inches of me. It is quite scary sometimes.

“Four cyclists came down and had to get off their bikes and stand in a hedge to let a car go by. People used to be able to let their dogs off the lead down there. Not now.”

Angela Williams, who’s lived on Bescar Lane since 2005, says it’s the speed of the cars and courtesy that are most concerning for her.

“I appreciate it’s a road,” she says. “But people need to be respectful. I don’t want to move, but these issues will bring house prices down around here. With regards to the ford, closing it seemed a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction.”

The residents think that the issues may be beyond resolution at this point, now that people have learnt you can cut through. But they’d welcome the introduction of some signs to warn drivers of pedestrians, the speed limit on Bescar Lane to be reduced, or the area being made access only.

The re-opening of the ford would, of course, help.

“The ford, for me, is a childhood memory,” says Liz. “We came down here to watch cars go through when I was a child. So when it closed it blew my head a bit. Why, just because some numpties go through it when it’s too deep?”

A spokesperson from Nottinghamshire County Council said: “Since the consultation on the permanent closure, the Council has been carefully considering the responses received.

“There has been no formal decision report since the consultation concluded but it is expected that a report will be presented for a decision on the future arrangements for Rufford Ford in the autumn.”