Discovering myself in Oxford
Oxford was the first place I lived outside Manchester. As many a young person finds going to university or college, in my case, going away from home is where you really begin to realise who you are.
The list of skills I learnt is long, and by no means exhaustive. They include: planning and cooking meals; taking care of my bike; laundry; and shopping. These were not all new skills, but it was the first time I’d had complete control of all aspects of my life. I’m glad I only had myself to take care of, that was enough.
One of my first experiences was punting, and I quickly realised that where you start from makes a difference to your experience of the journey. There are three punting places in Oxford, two in the city centre and Cherwell boathouse to the North, You find it off the Banbury Road, down Bardwell Road and down a drive off that. It’s a place you learn about from others.
Cherwell boathouse is, to my mind, the only place for punting. It’s peaceful and chaotic. There are punts and rowing boats, but no larger boats and no power boats. It’s beautiful, calm and relaxing experience until the pole sticks in the mud and a drama begins. Will the punter fall in or not? If that’s you and you’re unlucky, everyone else will appreciate the excitement. Returning from a punting trip soaking wet is an experience we can all do without, but the event will the the stuff of legend for years to come. The potential for drama is ever present on the water, and yet it’s so calm and relaxing in general.
Built in 1904, Cherwell boathouse has a long established reputation as being THE place to go to punt. Punting is a quintessential part of the Oxford experience, or even the Oxbridge experience.
Naturally, it’s a different in Cambridge, environment matters. Competition is high, like during the annual boat race. There’s heavy discourse between the rival universities. Both sides argue that their way is the best, and even which end classes as the front. Oxford favouring the slope end and Cambridge the platform end. We won’t discuss the anathema that is the punt with two platform ends. You’ll see students rile each other if, heaven forbid, they witness someone punting from the wrong end for their city. It’s one of those team building rivalries which lead to much passion and can only be made sense of in context. Rather like the war between the Lilliputians in Gulliver’s Travels.
So back to the painting. It’s a relatively quiet day. Some boats have been taken out leaving gaps which those remaining drift into. The water is calm with reflections visible between the punts. The man in the booth waits for the next customer.
No matter how busy Oxford is, all is quiet at the boathouse.
