Paddling Through Cambridge: A Scenic SUP Adventure on the River Cam!

Launching from Lammas Land car park was super easy. We headed along a beautifully rural-feeling part of the River Cam towards Cambridge city centre to join the hustle and bustle of the punters.

Our group of ten paddled to the portage point where we re-launched on the lower level of the Mill Pond. We took a trip left into the Mill Pond. Chaos ensued, dodging punts galore on their way in and out of Granta Moorings. Punts loaded with tourists who took great interest in us, and many photos of us!

Their professional chauffeurs made punting look easy, but the waterway was narrow here, and we had to swiftly and skillfully manoeuvre our SUP’s to avoid being squashed between punts and the wall.

After pausing for some group photos in front of the Mill Works, we retraced our strokes back out and continued on, passing Scudamore’s punting station at the Silver Street Bridge area.

Next up, my favourite of all the varied bridges we would pass under today: the Mathematical Bridge at Queen’s College. It’s a fragile-looking wooden construction, cleverly built entirely from straight pieces of timber to look like an arch. I’ve paddled under its replica at Iffley Lock on the Thames many times, so it was great to finally paddle under the original.

Other than dodging punts, it was plain paddling from here, travelling along The Backs behind the grand facades of six Cambridge colleges, whose manicured lawns stretch right down to the river’s edge. We marvelled at the abundance of landmarks, picturesque sights, and famous bridges.

On what was turning out to be a sunny spring day, it was like bumper cars on the river, dodging novice punters who made up for their lack of punt chauffeuring skills with enthusiasm. Perhaps the most unwieldy was the Pimm’s punt, from which we promised to purchase refreshments on our way back upstream!

Reaching Jesus Green footbridge and lock, we took a break and listened to the most incredible choir performing in the sunshine whilst the local parkrunners did their thing. Keen for cold refreshments and ice cream, we paddled back to Magdalene Bridge in the bustle of the city at Quayside, with its bars and restaurants and Scudamore’s punting station, where we jumped off to grab supplies before rafting up in the sunshine. As if by magic, the Pimm’s punt reappeared just in time to quench our thirst. We sat in the sun, enjoying the spectacle of more passing punters before heading back towards our cars.

We were all relieved to portage back onto the more peaceful section of the river, leaving the bustle of the city centre behind. The portage route passes through a field where, quite bizarrely for a city centre, people were sunbathing among grazing cattle marooned there on Robinson Crusoe Island. With time to spare and nobody in a hurry to leave, we explored a little further upstream towards Grantham before heading back to pack away and drive back home to Surrey.

This scenic SUP bucket list paddle will definitely be one to remember and no doubt one we’ll repeat.