Punting the Cherwell ★★★
Poling a flat skiff down the Cherwell River through the Meadows of Oxford
In most of England a “punter” simply means someone who goes to pubs, an activity at which I’ve always excelled.
In Oxford, however, being a punter involves balancing precariously at the back end of a 24-foot-long skiff, gripping a sixteen-foot pole, and attempting to shove a flat-bottomed boat in something resembling a straight line down a narrow twisting stream overhung with tree branches, picturesque low bridges, and other maritime hazards.
My wife thought this was great fun because all she had to do was lean back against some cushions while I spent an hour laboriously pushing us in a big circuit around the island created by the Cherwell River’s braided streams just south of Magdalen Bridge, where we picked up our boat from Oxford Punting. (In her defense, she was seven months pregnant at the time...)
I spent most of my time concentrating on keeping my balance and figuring out how not to get the pole stuck in the mucky river bottom every time I pushed off—the trick is to give it a half twist as you yank it out. (Many a novice punter has, in a panic, kept their stuck pole in a death grip and let it drag them right off the boat.)
Punts are designed for shallow rivers so, though two-dozen feet long and three feet wide, they’re just 18 inches deep and have no keel whatsoever. This means I was attempting to steer what was essentially little more than an enormous wooden plank.
Also, it turns out the guy who gave me my whopping 25 seconds of instruction was teaching me the Cambridge method of punting: standing at the very back edge of the flat “till” that occupies one end of the boat (both ends are squared off—I told you it was a plank—so there is no sense of which is meant to be the front).
Apparently, the preferred Oxford position is to stand down in the bottom of boat at the far end so that the till becomes the prow. I have also since read that, as a right-hander, I’m meant to stand with my right foot forward, not my left, which may explain why my feet hurt for the rest of the afternoon.
Frances, meanwhile, spent a lazy hour watching willow whips trace wavelets in the current, duck families waddle across Christ Church Meadows, couples stroll the towpaths, and the occasional white swan glide by.
Once or twice I took a break from poling, clambered down onto a cushion myself, and shared in the scenery. It is, after all, terribly romantic. (American student T.S. Eliot first encountered his future wife while punting the Cherwell.)
The shady riverbanks, grassy meadows, and the famous dreamscape of spires and gargoyled buildings rising beyond...it was suddenly quite easy to see how Oxford has inspired some of the richest fantasy worlds in English literature.
An upstream rental spot
The boat rentals at Magdalen Bridge are undoutedly the most central and convenient, but you can also rent punts (and rowboats and canoes) at the Cherwell Boathouse restaurant north of the city center.
They cost a bit less—£16 per hour weedays, £18 per hour on the weekends (£80 and £90 respectively for an all-day rental).
The Cherwell Boathouse is open 10am to dusk, mid-March through mid-October.
They will also pack you a picnic lunch from £9.50 per person, if you book at least 48 hours in advance.
Punt Tours
Sit back, relax and enjoy the picturesque scenery slipping by while you bask in the peace and quiet of the landscape, the glints and gleams and sparkles of the light on the water.
Your punt chauffeur will give you an informative and entertaining commentary about the points of interest on the route including a famous school, the first Oxford college for women, the University parks, and a notorious (former) nudist club for Oxford dons!
If you want to have a go yourself there will be plenty of opportunities. Once you've got the hang of it it's really quite easy. Your guide is an accomplished punting teacher!
The rendezvous and starting point for this one hour tour is at the Cherwell Boathouse, a picturesque bar/cafe, restaurant, and of course punting station, right on the river, just over 1 mile (1,6 km) from the city centre. A fabulous location to have a drink, a snack, or something more substantial before or after the punting expedition.
The route meanders down the river, passing on the right the Dragon School, whose famous former pupils include Hugh "House" Laurie, and Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter).
Continuing on this leisurely course the next highlight is Lady Margaret Hall, known as LMH, founded in 1878 specifically to admit women to the University for the first time.
Soon the lovely arch of Rainbow Bridge comes in to view, and on the right the University Parks, so called because in the English Civil War the King parked his artillery there.
The University Cricket Club plays matches here - another quintessential English experience. Passing by Parson's Pleasure, a former nudist bathing spot, it's not long before the turning round point appears through the arches of trees.
The return voyage provides a different perspective while still enjoying the peace and quiet, the English summer landscape, and the prospect of refreshments at journey's end.
For the more adventurous your chauffeur will be delighted to give a practical hands-on lesson in the basics of punting.
This tour has been designed to get the most out of your stay in Oxford.
You will enjoy a 1 hour, 45 min walk with your guide before a 30 mins chauffeured punt along the beautiful River Cherwell.
View (from the outside); The Weston Library, The Bridge of Sigh's, The Bodleian Library, The Radcliffe Camera, University Church of St Mary The Virgin and many of the colleges.
During your walk, your guide will delight you with the stories and people that have shaped Oxford over the centuries and explain about student life.
We aim to take you inside a college or University building which is included in the cost and subject to availability. Since Oxford is first and foremost a working University, this may not always be possible.
End your tour at Magdalen Bridge where your private punt will be waiting to take you along the River Cherwell with a stunning view of Christ Church. 1.45 hour walking tour and 30 mins punting (with a chauffeur!).
Tour is for upto 5 people.
- Viator.com - Best one-stop shopping site for all sorts of activities, walking tours, bus tours, escorted day trips, and other excursions. It is actually a clearinghouse for many local tour companies and outfitters, and since it gets a bulk-rate deal on pricing (and takes only a token fee for itself), you can actually sometimes book an activity through Viator for less than it would cost to buy the same exact tour from the tour company itself. (I once booked a Dublin pub crawl via Viator and later discovered that I saved about $1.50; also, the tour turned out to be sold-out, and they were turning away the folks in front of me in line, but since I had a pre-booked voucher I got in.)Partner
- Contexttravel.com - This bespoke walking tour company doesn't even call its 200 tour leaders "guides." It calls them "docents"—perhaps because most guides are academics and specialists in their fields: history professors, archeologists, PhDs, art historians, artists, etc. Groups are miniscule (often six people maximum), and most docents can be booked for private guiding sessions as well. They aren't always the cheapest tours, but they are invariably the best. People rave about Context.Partner
- City-discovery.com - Chief rival to Viator (though with a less spiffy interface and often sub-par text descriptions), representing many of the same tours (at the same prices). However, it also seems to cover more destinations, especially secondary ones. When it comes down to it, City-Discovery and Viator have maybe 70% the same inventory, but then 30% will be completely different (some Viator has City-Discovery does not, other vice-versa) so it pays to check through the offerings from both.Partner
Related
Fine French dining and boat rentals on the Cherwell River just north of downtown Oxford
