ROWING CLUBS – College and local rowing clubs
There has been rowing on the River Cam for nearly 200 years. College rowing club boathouses date back to the 1830’s and ‘town’ rowing clubs can be traced back to 1844
Most of the club boathouses can be found along Midsummer Common,
with a few further downstream on the opposite bank to Riverside.
There is a long history of rivalry between the college and to a lesser extent between the ‘town’ local clubs and the ‘gown’ college teams. The big race events each year are the ‘bumps.’ There are two University Bumps: The ‘Lent’ Bumps in late February/early March. The ‘May’ Bumps usually mid-June. In addition, the local rowing clubs have a ‘Town’ Bumps in July. Side-by-side racing is not possible over what is sometimes a narrow and winding River Cam, so the ‘bumping’ races were introduced in the early 19th century as an exciting alternative. The objective is to catch and ‘bump’ the boat in front.
During the ‘bumps’ Camboats offers a river crossing service to allow spectators to hop-over to the towpath to then walk down to the stating gun. The Plough is the perfect spot to watch the rowers in action and have a drink/bite to eat between each race.
Camboats offer exclusive private trips from the city centre down to the racing section of river at The Plough near the city boundary.
River crossing service at The Plough during ‘bumps’ races
