Bumpy river

The May Bumps start on Wednesday, lasting four days, so lots of college boat clubs were out practising on the River Cam today. You can tell which club each boat belongs to by the colour of the blades. For example, Churchill (pictured) has pink blades, Clare College has yellow, Lady Margaret (the boat club of St John's) has red, King's has purple.

The River Cam isn't really wide or straight enough to hold side-by-side races (regattas), so they race one in front of the other instead. The idea is to bump the boat in front of you, earning you the right to decorate your boat with leafy twigs. In the next race, you swap starting positions with the boat you bumped.

It's not just the May Bumps that are held in June, rather than May, as might be expected. There's also May Week, which also takes place in June, when the colleges mark the end of the exam period with garden parties and, of course, May Balls.