Rutherford’s Punting Cambridge Ltd
Emma Wynne knows about punting. When she set up Rutherford’s Punting in 2016, she already had a lifetime’s experience on the river. First, she was a boat hand for other punt companies in the late 1990s then she went out on her own, just her and her boat and a punt-load of enthusiasm. When she started her own business, she knew she wanted to offer something different from the usual touristy experience, so they started with romantic tours for couples, complete with rose petal-strewn boats and bottles of champagne.
Today Rutherford’s offers a range of exciting experiences: along with the champagne tours, there are Gin O’Clock tours with gin from the Cambridge Gin Distillery (coming from May is a gin tasting tour), sparkling wine tasting with local vineyard Saffron Grange, and the utterly memorable Time Piece Experience with Beaucroft, the independent watchmakers. If you’re on a shoestring budget, you can still enjoy a taste of luxury by taking a shared tour while sipping a gin and tonic or glass of champagne that you’ve pre-ordered from sister company the Cambridge Bar. What’s more, the boats have tables, perfect for an alfresco experience on the river.
Emma says this is not a bums on seats operation – there are only four boats – but it has to be said that a beautiful punt with thick leather seats means you leave the tour with a happy bottom. For Emma, it’s all about offering an experience that makes her customers’ lives a little bit shinier. New boats are coming on stream in April, and they have lots of legroom and raised seats so happy hips and knees can join those happy bottoms.
Nothing could be finer than a leisurely, luxurious punt up the River Cam, learning about Cambridge’s medieval history on the way up, and its more modern association with iconic scientists on the way back. Rutherford’s has its own direct association with a famous scientist, Cambridge graduate and nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford. This is the way to discover Cambridge.