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Punts are the name given
to the flat bottomed wooden boats, which form a quintessentially Oxford (or
Cambridge) experience. Punting is boating in a punt; the punter propels the
punt by pushing against the river bed with a pole. Punts were developed in medieval times to
transport things on rivers that were too shallow for regular boats.
A traditional river
punt is a wooden boat constructed like a ladder. The two side-panels are connected
by a series of cross-planks. The boat has no keel which makes it maneuverable in
very shallow water.
Punting became popular in
Oxford when William and John Salter established Oxford’s first commercial
punting company in 1880. They began by hiring out rowing boats on the Isis but
soon realized that punt boats would be more suitable for the shallow waters of
the nearby River Cherwell.
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