Punting on the River Cam

Written by Ruey of The Ruey Review
Updated 27 March 2012

“Punting is not as easy as it looks. As in rowing, you soon learn how to get along and handle the craft, but it takes long practice before you can do this with dignity and without getting the water all up your sleeve.”

— Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat (1889)

Punting is darn difficult. There, you’ve been warned. If you think you can just take a lady friend to the River Cam without any prior punting experience and impress them with a romantic time on the water, you’re in for an embarrassing Fail moment. First, it is very difficult to punt straight, and it is not easy to fix the direction of your punt as it requires a lot of strength. The punt pole has much more width and weight than you’d expect which makes it hard to move in or pull out of the water. This means you are very likely to get yourself trapped in circling in the same spot and get your sleeves wet during that time. Lastly, but very importantly, while you struggle to move the punt the way you want it to move, you need to at the same time avoid collision with other punts.

The Anchor, where it all started

I believe we were in Queen's waters at this point

Despite the difficulty, punting on the River Cam is great fun. I definitely recommend hiring a boat and punt for yourself from where “The Anchor” is towards the North. This way you can go under the Newton Bridge in Queen’s College, pass by King’s College, go through the nice little bridge in Clare College, passing Trinity College to eventually reach the famous bridge in St. John's College. I myself have not gone beyond St. John's because struggling with the punt as a newbie does indeed take up a lot of time. Despite the hard work, if you’re on the river on a nice day, the experience can be truly wonderful. 

Cute little bridge of Clare College

Under a bridge, nice pants guy

The willow, the... other types of trees, the buildings, the grass, the flowers, the other punters and the Cam itself are gorgeous. You do feel much more up-close to these things when you are on the river and can appreciate their beauty that much more when in a punt. I will not attempt to describe what I enjoy most about punting on the River Cam but I have provided photos for you to get a glimpse. I do highly recommend the experience and do wish that you’ll have the luck to be in Cambridge on a sunny day to fully enjoy Punting on the River Cam.

Beautiful Willow by the River Cam

 

In St. John's College