Day 5

Stand sideways to the punt, with your feet at an angle of between 45° and 90° to the front of the punt. Bring the pole up, hand over hand, so that it is brought along side the punt, almost vertical and clear of the water.
Open your hands slightly to allow the pole to slide between your hands until it hits the bottom.
Shift your weight onto your forward-facing foot.
Reach as high up the pole as you can with both hands and push it both down and backwards, feeding it through your hands.
When the pole reaches about 30 degrees to the vertical, take advantage of your body position and ‘stride through’ the pole, moving your weight onto your back foot. However, don't lean all of your weight onto the pole at this point in case you fall in!
Carry on pushing backwards until the pole floats naturally off the bottom and rises to the top, leaving you holding the top end. This is a perfect position to begin thinking about steering. You can now let your weight stablise on both feet.
The easiest way to steer is to simply use the pole when it is behind you like a rudder. Using your body as a pivot, push the rear of the pole to your right to turn the front of the punt to the right, and vice versa.

08.30 London to Cambridge We depart the Rotherhithe Youth Hostel after an early breakfast, with a packed lunch and all our luggage and drive to Cambridge.
10.30 Walking Tour of Cambridge We will meet our guide at Silverstreet car park for a walking tour of Cambridge. The city of Cambridge was born beside a ford over the river Cam. In the first century BC, an Iron Age tribe built their homes in the area. When the Romans arrived, they called the river Granta and the settlement became a crossing point for the military roads from Lincoln to Colchester. Next came the Saxons and then the Normans who built a castle to fend off their predecessors, the by now rebelling Saxons.

Cambridge became a university town when scholars began to gather around the local religious establishments. Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded the first college, Peterhouse, in 1284. In the 1300s Clare, Pembroke, Gonville and Caius, (pronounced 'Keys'), Trinity Hall and Corpus Christi followed. Later, Henry VIII united two existing colleges to make Trinity a real ‘super college’ to rival Christ Church, which is situated in the ‘Other Place’ - as Cambridge academics refer to Oxford. Today there are 31 colleges, the latest arrival being Robinson College founded by a local millionaire in 1977. The colleges are the most important tourist attraction in Cambridge - and for good reason. These seats of learning were founded by kings and queens, bishops, guilds and noblemen, who had a close interest in the prosperity of the colleges. The buildings were made to last for centuries, designed by the best architects available. Money was no problem when these wonderful structures were erected. Today, the colleges at Cambridge represent 700 years of British architectural grandeur.

14.00 Punting in Cambridge
We will meet at Scudamores Punting Company, Granter Place on Mill Lane and split into 3 groups to have a guided punt tour of the River Cam which lasts approximately 45 minutes. Punting is a very special way to enjoy the river in and around Cambridge. Basically punting involves pushing your boat along with a long pole and not falling into the water. A punt is a flat-bottomed boat which does not have a keel. Typically, a punt is approximately 21 feet (6 metres) long and 3 feet (1 metre) wide. It should be propelled by means of a 16 foot (5 metre) long pole, which is also used to steer the punt. This method of propulsion is known as "punting"; just using a paddle to move along doesn't count! We will have a glide along the river in a chauffeured punt, the Cambridge version of a gondola in Venice.
Punting is not physically demanding and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Good technique is the key, not brute force. For those that care to swot up before they come punting, below is a brief ‘How To’ guide. Punting is notoriously difficult to teach in the abstract, particularly the hand positions and arm movements.