wetroads - website about fords

[Owain]

I've received an email from Lee at http://www.wetroads.co.uk, that will be of interest to folks interested in the fords on our roads:

Hello All

It has been several years in the making, but the latest (enormous) update to wetroads is now online. A comprehensive list of the new fords is available on the homepage.

I have also taken the opportunity to give the site a spring clean, so it will look a little different. In particular, I have worked on the google maps feature so it is more smartphone friendly and therefore easier to use when you are out and about: http://www.wetroads.co.uk/gmaps.htm

Finally, you have probably never noticed, but there is a visitor tracker at the bottom of the homepage. This records unique visitors (not pageloads) and you will notice that this last month we went through the 1 million unique visitors barrier! Only taken 15+ years!!!

Anyway, thanks as ever to everyone who has sent in new material... Enjoy!

--
Happy Fording
Lee

[avtur]

Excellent link, thanks.

I drove through a 'ford' just a couple of days ago, it is listed on the fords website.

I drive through this ford on a fairly regular basis, it's only a few miles from home and is 'en-route' to a place I often visit in the summer months for car club meetings.

The ford is at Swettenham (near Congleton in Cheshire), it has a concrete base so it isn't a big risk to drive through it, although it is quite wide. Usually the water is only a few inches deep but (obviously) the depth is subject to rainfall.

As an aside there is an open classic car meet at the Swettenham Arms every Tuesday evening through the summer, a good place to spot cars you don't often see on the road

[jgharston]

A good site. I wasted several hours on it a couple of weeks ago.

[Piatkow]

No time to look tonight but it reminded me. Many years ago, before my ex passed her test, I used to take her to a dance class every Tuesday which involved going through a ford. The exhaust on that car corroded much faster than on any car that I have owned before or since.

[KeithW]

Been through quite a few of the those listed in Cambridgeshire, the bottom line as always is use your common sense and if in doubt wade in first.

[Berk]

Been through quite a few of the those listed in Cambridgeshire, the bottom line as always is use your common sense and if in doubt wade in first.

You're having a laaaaaaaugh??

[Helvellyn]

I've been through more on a bike than in a car. One time I was heading down a hill and eyeing the river at the bottom suspiciously - didn't realise there was a ford there. Another (which won't be on the list) was a couple of weeks ago near Loch Ness, following the old military road. Which vanished somewhere near a river and reappeared on the other side, with no sign of any ford-like surface. That was a socks off and pick my way through job.

Looking at the map link there there are an awful lot on that site now, that could turn into a bit of a time sink!

Good job water didn't get in the wrong place when I went through one in my old car, that might've given me a hefty repair bill and so could I afford to ford a ford in a Ford?

[KeithW]

Been through quite a few of the those listed in Cambridgeshire, the bottom line as always is use your common sense and if in doubt wade in first.

You're having a laaaaaaaugh??

Nope - you would be amazed how little water it takes to sweep away a car and spark ignition engines can die in just a few inches. One of the Fords I have used is this one which actually has depth indicators but some people just ignore them.

http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/family- ... -1-4861724

It happened just here

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.25348 ... authuser=0

[owen b]

I attempted this one http://www.wetroads.co.uk/dp.php?Hinxton1&Hinxton1mo on my road bike last summer. It looks innocuous enough. I should have read wetroads :

A concrete-bottomed ford on a well-used back road between Hinxton and Duxford. At the time of my visit, it wasn't very deep (less than 6 inches) but was surprisingly fast-flowing, and the base is covered in slimy green stuff, so two-wheeled users should take care.

I ended up in a heap, very wet, in the middle of the ford .

A family favourite when I was a kid was the Wear ford at Stanhope http://www.wetroads.co.uk/dp.php?Stanhope4 http://www.wetroads.co.uk/dp.php?Stanhope3&Stanhope3mo . It was always quite an event to use it. I see that it has now been closed off .

[Ruperts Trooper]

Been through quite a few of the those listed in Cambridgeshire, the bottom line as always is use your common sense and if in doubt wade in first.

You're having a laaaaaaaugh??

Nope - you would be amazed how little water it takes to sweep away a car and spark ignition engines can die in just a few inches. One of the Fords I have used is this one which actually has depth indicators but some people just ignore them.

http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/family- ... -1-4861724

It happened just here

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.25348 ... authuser=0

Modern cars will start get bouyancy as soon as the water reaches the undersides, so about 150mm for cars, more for SUVs, and a strong flow at 200mm deep can lift enough weight off the wheels to push the car sideways.

My own SUV has a "wading depth in still water" of 580mm but that's with the air suspension raised to give 280mm ground clearance, almost double that of a normal car - and I wouldn't go that deep with a cross-flow.

[Berk]

Just to clarify, it wasn't the (depth of) water damage I was questioning, but that there could be any fords in this part of the world. The Hail Weston one seems to be a rare exception.

There's some in the Isle of Wight, quite close to Carisbrooke Castle...

[FosseWay]

My favourite has to be Butterton. Most fords run at right angles to the river they cross, but that is boring, so instead the river runs down the street for several tens of metres.

[DavidBrown]

My favourite has to be Butterton. Most fords run at right angles to the river they cross, but that is boring, so instead the river runs down the street for several tens of metres.

Just had a look at it on Streetview and that's completely shadowed by my favorite at Bilbrook, Somerset.

[XC70]

I attempted to cycle through the ford in Clumber park with my daughter who was about 3 at the time in the trailer behind me. The water was only an inch or two. However it was very slimy on a cobbles surface. I got in at about 5mph and the bike just went from under me. No problem at such a speed, I just stepped off and then immediately slipped over. Once I had recovered my composure and got up - with helpful suggestions from people on the bridge - I walked out. Such was the lack of friction on the surface it was impossible to push the bike without the wheels constantly being pushed away by the water. I am still surprised to this day just how slippery that ford can be with only such a low flow of water.....

[Big Nick]

My favourite has to be Butterton. Most fords run at right angles to the river they cross, but that is boring, so instead the river runs down the street for several tens of metres.

Just had a look at it on Streetview and that's completely shadowed by my favorite at Bilbrook, Somerset.

Go down that road, turn around and look at the name of the yellow bungalow.... it's an original classic!

[sydneynick]

It is interesting how some fords change with time. In summer 1958, I can recall that my father drove the family Morris Minor through the ford by the cathedral in St David's without any major problem. But Wetroads says it is now for off-roaders only. And it is signed as being unsuitable for motopr vehicles: https://goo.gl/maps/j4J9Yq5EqXG2

[vlad]

A family favourite when I was a kid was the Wear ford at Stanhope http://www.wetroads.co.uk/dp.php?Stanhope4 http://www.wetroads.co.uk/dp.php?Stanhope3&Stanhope3mo . It was always quite an event to use it. I see that it has now been closed off .

I think it's been closed precisely because it was an event.

We stopped off there at the North Pennines trip a few years ago - the water level was high enough that the stepping stones weren't visible. I suppose a tractor could perhaps have got through.

[multiraider2]

It occured to me that I have had almost no reason to cross fords in my driving. I can hardly recall having traversed one. I drove the Averton Gifford Tidal Road a couple of years back, but that is not a true ford. But, in the last week I've crossed three, quite by accident. In Cornwall, Strawberry Lane at the back of the Hayle bypass and to avoid evening rush on there. Not marked on the OS map but as seen here. Plus two in Dorset in coming home today and avoiding traffic on the A303 or A35 and the road clsure at Maiden Newton. At Beaminster (ok that was a mistake) and at Sydling St Nicholas

I suppose it's actualy four, because I walked in the ford at Helford as you can't take the car down there in the summer unless you are a resident, but there is a footbirdge also so that was just for the hell of it.

[haggishunter]

Does the A82 on Loch Lomondside count? Asking for a friend!

[Osthagen]

Does the A82 on Loch Lomondside count? Asking for a friend!

Given the depth of the water coverage, I think that's closer to a fjord!