Clothes Free Life nu Gymnosophy Archives

2026-04-17 22:04:10

Naturist asks What sort of country is Britain for people who want to be clothes free?

Naturist asks What sort of country is Britain for people who want to be clothes free?

By John Harding A weird mix of staunch conservatism and liberal freedom. It's a country that can host the multicultural splendour of the Notting Hill Carnival, the diverse Edinburgh Fringe and the fantastic Hay-on-Wye literary festival. It's a melting pot of cultures and attitude

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By John Harding

A weird mix of staunch conservatism and liberal freedom. It's a country that can host the multicultural splendour of the Notting Hill Carnival, the diverse Edinburgh Fringe and the fantastic Hay-on-Wye literary festival. It's a melting pot of cultures and attitudes, and a land which seems to embrace … almost everything.
Except naturism; we lag behind our European cousins with their care-free, laissez-faire attitude towards a clothes-free lifestyle. However, the laws in the United Kingdom that address naturism are clear: it is not illegal. Indeed, this may come as a shock to many. Perhaps they only ever see naked people in public when a sozzled sports supporter streaks at a sporting event and is subsequently arrested. Perhaps they buy into the myth that it is “indecent exposure” or perhaps they just believe because of their years of conditioning it must be illegal.

But it isn't.

Not directly, anyhow. There is a law called the Public Order Act; this permits the Police to ensure “order” is maintained and that anyone who knowingly causes “distress” or “alarm” can be arrested and charged; it is a vague law open to abuse. And is often abused.

I understand the desire to have a piece of catch-all legislation. The time and effort required to pass new laws is immense and it is impossible for a Government to consider every piece of abhorrent or undesirable behaviour to pass into the statute books. Our laws would be a mess if they tried and we would end up with a myriad of bizarre laws, like the Dangerous Dogs Act or the Digital Economy Act: that aim to do good but have spectacularly failed in their implementation. Therefore, the Public Order Act exists so errant behaviour which the authorities seeks to discourage can be outlawed. After all, you wouldn't want someone walking through London showing support for a terrorist state?

If I am being generous, the Public Order Act seeks to hold a mirror to society; what the majority in society finds non-distressing is fine, but everything else falls within the scope of the law. But it fails. It seeks not fairness but the perpetuity of the status quo: anyone that steps significantly from the meridian could find themselves labelled as “distressing” others.

At my core I am a libertarian. I see if no harm is being done to anyone or anything else, then I see no reason to seek to regulate or outlaw that behaviour. I believe in personal choice and freedom of expression. I like freedom from interference, and I see conservatism as an enemy of progress and liberty.

A couple of years ago, with some other naturists, we conducted an experiment. We wrote to every police authority in England and asked the following question:

Dear Police,

I am a naturist. When the weather becomes more clement I would like to organise a series of naked walks around the country, with potentially a handful of other naturists, in the countryside as a protest in support of Nigel Keer and Stephen Gough.

As you are aware there is no law against public nudity, and we have no intention to cause any trouble. I will endeavour to pick a route away from towns and villages and we will have no intent to alarm or distress any one else, although obviously, I cannot guarantee that we will not be seen.

To save misunderstanding and to ensure that there is no objection from yourselves, what notice or arrangements do I need to give the Police of our intentions prior to our naked walk?

Kind regards,

John

The answer I was looking for was: “Thank you for your enquiry. We have no reason to object to your walk. We hope you have a pleasant time.”

The response was incredible; so many of our respondents didn't know the law. I spoke to a lovely lady in Cheshire, who admitted that she had to check my assertion that public nudity wasn't illegal in her Police Handbook and was amazed that it wasn't. Until that day, if she had encountered a naturist in the wild fields of Cheshire, there is a reasonable chance they would have been wrongfully arrested.

Others were less reasonable. My response from Derbyshire can be summarised as “kit off, cuffs on.” Some stated that they would have no issue with the proposal but if someone complained we could be arrested.

We got responses from most of the authorities and provide the map below; areas of green were where the police authorities correctly understood the law and were happy to work with myself if I had wanted to proceed. Areas of yellow were where the police authorities sought to dissuade us; they gave us warnings that they may seek to halt our right to remain unclothed. Areas of red were where the police authorities served to prevent us. I got no meaningful responses back from the police authorities in black.
This exercise was not designed to criticise the Police but expose a ridiculous state of affairs where public naturists are vilified and harassed by the very people who should protect them. It the Police's job to uphold the law and their role in the public justice system to be fair and just.

There is no explicit law against public naturism; there is no demand from our legislative assembly for all people to be clothed in public. While I wouldn't seek to stroll through the streets naked, I will fight for the right to do so. After all, who is hurt by a naked person strolling through the countryside?

The footnote to that exercise was that more senior people than myself were able to use the material we gathered to demonstrate issues in law enforcement caused by a non-understanding of the legislation and uneven implementation. We helped people faced with prosecution.

But it shouldn't be necessary. The Public Order Act was surely never meant to be used against naturists? Do we really live in such a prudish society where the sight of a bare bottom can cause such rampant distress to warrant prosecution, like Stephen Gough.

Instead, perhaps it was designed to be used for situations such as last week, when a man walked through London carrying an IS flag aloft. Islamic State, a barbaric and vile terrorist group, spreading misery and death throughout the remains of Syria and Iraq, advertised proudly by a deluded gentleman is, apparently, not distressing to the wider society.

But a naked man is.

So, according to the British authorities, the promotion of religious extremists is acceptable but the natural state of homo sapiens isn't.

Once again, I ask, what sort of country is Britain? Confused, I'd say.

John is doing the ZSL's Streak for Tigers; if anyone would like to sponsor me to run around London Zoo naked then I would be very appreciative (justgiving.com/john-harding10). And so would the tigers. 😀

cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/nudity…

theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/j…

telegraph.co.uk/news/general-e…

This article first appeared in the Clothes Free Life nu Gymnosophy magazine August 2015

Naturist asks What sort of country is Britain for people who want to be clothes free?

By John Harding A weird mix of staunch conservatism and liberal freedom. It’s a country that can host the multicultural splendour of the Notting Hill Carnival, the diverse Edinburgh Fringe and the fantastic Hay-on-Wye literary festival.

^{nu Gymnosophy magazine (nu Gymnosophy)}

Clothes Free Life nu Gymnosophy Archives

2026-04-03 17:45:36

Can naturism and the clothes free community survive if we go off and hive?

Can naturism and the clothes free community survive if we go off and hive?

Can naturism and the clothes free community survive if we go off and hive? By Earl D 21 Comments 4 Mins Read Updated: December 4, 2014 8:45 am Table of Contents 1. Individualistic society 2. Can can naturism survive? 3. Paradigm shift Advertisements Last winter I posted a poll on

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Table of Contents

1. Individualistic society

2. Can can naturism survive?

3. Paradigm shift

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Last winter I posted a poll on the state of fragmentation in the clothes free community. A recent post on the blog for a clothes free group geared towards young adults made me realize it continued relevance. It also got me think can the clothes free community survive if it’s simply break off is special interest groups?

Individualistic society

American society and to a lesser degree North American society has long tradition of being more individualistic and less institutionally connected. We show a strong penchant for grouping together with our “own” kind (an innate human tendency) and less of a multi generational bent. So it is not at all surprising when any group decides to restrict its membership to a single group of people in order to cultivate a sense of belonging and community for those who fit the group criteria. Consider this recent comment on the YNA blog.

… it needs to come to the realization that there is adult nudism, gay nudism, young nudism, and public nudism (Bare to Breakers, WNBR, etc). There is no longer a “one size fits all” definition.

Can can naturism survive?

The question arises can the naturist, clothes free community survive if it adopts this social pattern as standard operating procedures? If each special interest group hives off into its own what then will hold the community together. How can we rally support for any clothes free cause if all we have are special “clubs”? Is this the future? Gay naturist, young naturists, straight naturists, Christian naturists, senior naturists, white naturists, student naturists, rich naturists all gather in their own groups to cultivate a sense of community while the clothes free community as a whole disintegrates? Is that strategy to get new people in clothes life bode well for the long term future of the clothes free community?

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I ask all these question because I think what is happening in the clothes free community reflects a bigger social trend. I believe leave that trend towards hiving with thinner and thinner networks of people sorting in group of people only like ourselves will have huge ramifications for the clothes free communities.

Paradigm shift

Instead of focusing on our differences and the challenges they present. I think we should try to find common ground to bring groups together. I realize it is easier to grow community if those belonging to the group are like us this principle has been used for many years in many different circles to grow groups expediently. But is it effective? Is it effective when we realize that these groups often wax and wane over time and if they disappear and there is no connection beyond the group what happens to the clothes free community then? Is it effective when this approach reinforces the kind of separation that the clothes free community experiences from broader society? Is it effective to reinvent the wheel to reach every new group we want to engage in the clothes free life?

Maybe we should take a page for the South African naturist playbook and focus on regional as opposed to demographic groups with a strong connection to an umbrella group. Most of the decision making and oversight should remain with the regional groups so special regional issues can be addressed. This approach I believe allowed the recent establishment South Africa’s first official clothes ing optional beach.

The alternative in my opinion is the clothes free and naturist communities disintegrates into a fractured powerless and ineffective set of cliques and special interest groups which eventually become irrelevant. So what do you think?

Can naturism and the clothes free community survive if we go off and hive?

^{Earl D (nu Gymnosophy)}