A Fresh Perspective on the Pathfinder Driving Course : Rufforth, August 2026.

Last week members of York Rotary served refreshments for those participating in the Pathfinder Driving course at Rufforth airfield.  In spite of the very hot well the young drivers, their associates and the instructors all appeared to cope very well with the course.

Young driver William and his Associate - Mum Katherine - gave us some thoughts on days 1 & 2……..as readers will find, this forms only Part 1 of their report.

Initial Nerves.  It would be fair to say that both of us were very nervous, but we were greeted warmly by calm volunteers. During the welcome session we were given frisbees to learn the correct steering technique (more on this later!).

Cones everywhere!  One of the most overwhelming parts of the course was the sea of multi-coloured cones seemingly scattered randomly across the airfield. In fact, once we were briefed, the cones laid out a clear and simple roadway which we navigated (mostly) pretty well. We went from, 'oh no!', to 'we've got this'.

Passing Level 3.  By the first afternoon, William was ready to be assessed for driving on the main course route. He had mastered setting off safely and was driving carefully around and between cones. Incredibly he completed successful attempts at reverse parking; and I had learned some skills too! William says, 'I couldn't believe I'd done it, but it gave me confidence because I'd developed such as lot in such a short space of time'.

Driving ourselves.  Once William passed Level 3, we set off to navigate the cone maze and practice the skills he'd learned. He says, 'Driving at 30mph felt really fast when I was in control and it made me wonder how people use the motorway, but I suppose that will come with time'. He also mastered roundabouts, with only the one cone casualty, which seemed pretty good for day one. By the end of the day we were both quite exhausted, but really had a sense of achievement and I was so impressed at both the course and the change in William’s self-belief.

Day Two.  On arrival, the cones had changed the road layout we had to follow, and so from the get-go we were back into full concentration mode. By the end of the day, he was improving significantly and had passed Level 2. The road safety briefings and stopping demonstration were very eye-opening. On the way home, he even reminded me to slow down a bit!

Playing Frisbee.  Sadly, playing a game of 'steering wheel' frisbee later that evening, William hit the ground and broke his hand. A visit to York Hospital A&E followed. With his hand in plaster, we were unable to continue the course. We look forward to our return, to complete the final 3 days - in October!!

We would like to say how welcome the refreshments, provided by York Rotary, were during the intense 2 days we much enjoyed and how wonderful were all of the Pathfinder Instructors.

Part 2 will be provided later in the year. Watch this space!

To get an idea of participating in the course click on the Instagram link below to watch a shorth Reel and look at for the short clip at the end of a car stopping from 80+ miles an hour! 

https://www.instagram.com/rotaryyork/reel/Db-03G9IA77/