The advice comes after videos on social media of the crossing of the River Nottinghamshire at a viral tourist attraction.
Deep in the English countryside is an ancient river crossing that has been in use, in forms, for at least 1000 years. It appeared in the Domesday Book, attracted Cistercian priests who built an abbey nearby and, more recently, served as a convenient shortcut for travellers to Nottinghamshire. But Rufford’s ford has now closed, after clips of cars driving through him attracted millions of prospects on TikTok.
“This ford has been there since Adam was a kid,” said Neil Clarke, a local councillor. This month it will close the crossing after requests from fire and police departments, who may not be able to cope with a small country road that fits one of the world’s most prominent roads.
“With the age of social media, it has a tourist attraction. People drive there especially to cross the ford. They don’t realize how deep it is and suddenly their car starts floating,” Clarke said.
Rufford’s ford passes through Rainworth Water, a small river east of Mansfield. When the weather is dry, the river crosses the road as a small, easily passable network. But after heavy rains, it reaches several feet deep and up to 30 feet (9 feet). meters) wide, and the crossing looks like a log canal in a theme park. Overly positive drivers have a moment of fulfillment when their cars become a boat. As their engines fill with water, they themselves beg spectators to tow them.
For years, this has been a local concern. Then, in 2020, a local teenager named Ben Gregory began uploading videos he had filmed on YouTube of cars falling into the water. Suddenly, a small alley in Nottinghamshire turned into a world tourist charm with an obsessive fan base.
“People like to see pain and failure,” said another YouTuber, who insisted he be mentioned via his online username midlifecrisis101x. “They don’t need to see other people win. What they need to do is look at the idiots and say, “I’m having a bad day, but he’s having a worse day. “
The 50-year-old YouTuber spent months filming at the ford along Gregory. He said the public was extremely happy to see others fail. Closed. Why are you going to put your car there?
Capturing a car breakdown can take hours, and YouTubers film piles of crosses before getting photographs that cause an increase in schadenfreude, such as a flooded BMW or Mercedes. “It’s relaxing there, it’s like fishing. But you’re fishing for cars,” midlifecrisis101x said.
As for the motivation of those crossing the river, he believes there is a deep “bloodlust” on the part of drivers who want to drive a vehicle valued at tens of thousands of pounds through a flooded ford. “It’s like when someone knows they’re about to do something wrong, they don’t look around, and they go ahead and they do it anyway. “
Global interest in Rufford Ford has temporarily become unwieldy. Large crowds showed up on the narrow tree-lined country road, parked their cars and prompted their families to spend the day cheering on drivers looking to cross. Local businesses traded heavily with hielo. crema. La Nottinghamshire Police had to divert officials to deal with numbers. Other YouTubers and influencers arrived, creating a bank of cameras filming the crossing. Sometimes, firefighters had to send a corps of workers to help remove the cars.
Midlifecrisis101x said: “I brought a guy from Germany and spent a week in his car in the parking lot. Twice. He sat there with his food and watched. “
The videos have valuable YouTube content, and creators receive a percentage of the site’s ad revenue, earning tens of thousands of pounds.
But crowd control began to spiral out of control over the course of that year as videos moved from an unwavering core audience on YouTube to TikTok, where algorithm-based recommendations drove millions of new audiences to the factory.
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This intense attention provided through TikTok, according to midlifecrisis101x, led to a replacement in the type of user that came to the Ford. -Power people came to Rufford Ford. Originally, I fished cars, then TikTok brought more power, and not in a smart way.
Clarke, who is the cabinet member responsible for roads and surroundings at Nottinghamshire County Council, said crowds were encroaching on the road and posed a danger to public safety. “We’ve had court cases that we’re ruining everyone’s fun. True, it’s wonderful entertainment and other people go to see the show, but I don’t think other people realize that there is a lot of danger and danger. Very quickly, things like this can turn into tragedy.
The adviser said the development of online attention has led other people to try riskier crossings in recent months. “There, a motorcyclist who approached him at 50 mph, drove all the way and fell directly onto the handlebars. It was going so fast it bounced all the way along the water before collapsing on the other side in a heap. It’s deadly. “
For now, citizens will have to wait while the council makes a decision on what to do about the viral crossing. Clarke said a replacement bridge was out of the question for charging reasons, but measures to calm traffic are being considered.
Meanwhile, Rufford’s organization of YouTubers is convinced they’ve taken advantage of the leading call for online content about water-powered cars, and hopes to recreate their camaraderie on a new site.
“It’s a lovely position and the other Fords are not the same,” midlifecrisis101x said. “But that’s why we’re focusing on on-screen chemistry. “