Falling out of the boat

There is something totally different about Cambridge, and when my son, Simon, was at university there, Libby and I really enjoyed going down to see him, especially in the summer. The River Cam runs through the town, and one of its real attractions is punting.

A punt is a shallow longboat with a short platform at each end. The punter is not the guy who goes and places a bet on the horses for you while you go in the boat! The punter is the one who makes the boat move. He stands on the platform at the back of the boat, and pushes it along with a long pole. It takes a bit of time to learn, but once you master it, you feel great. You glide through the water and the only sound is the drip of water as you pull the pole up out of the water, move it forward and push into the bottom of the river with it again. If you are daft, you can also sing “O Sole Mio” and think of Cornetto ice creams.