Do you dare to bare all? Here’s where you can embrace nature and go nude in North Wales
Summer is coming so take a look at our guide to enjoying nudism without falling foul of the law.
The temperature is rising and as summer approaches thousands will be flocking to our many beautiful beaches to enjoy the sun.
Where some will be on the hunt for fashionable beach wear, others will be looking forward to a more natural approach.
Naturism is the word used to describe the activities of people who encompass nudity as part of their lifestyle.
There are around 3.8 million naturists in the UK. British Naturism, the society which has championed nudism in the UK for over fifty years has almost 10,000 members.
Nudist Beauty Contest – August 1957 The two Macaskil daughters – Doreen (L) – sitting naked, applying make up..
With a change in perceptions of public nudity, naturism is becoming a more widely accepted practice.
So if you really want to embrace the sun and enjoy the warm weather as nature intended, here is a guide on where to go clothes-free in North Wales.
The law
It is not an offence to be naked in public in Wales.
The Crown Prosecution Service states that every case should be considered individually and that ‘a balance needs to be struck between the naturist’s right to freedom of expression and the right of the wider public to be protected from harassment, alarm and distress’.
Which means there must be a reason to believe person deliberately stripped off in order to upset or shock, before it can be considered an offence. And the complainant has to provide proof of this.
Even in these circumstances, it has to be considered whether or not prosecution is in the public interest.
So if you wish to enjoy recreational nudity such as swimming, sunbathing or taking a stroll in a public or open place and do so with consideration for others, you have a right to defend being clothes-free.
As the sun comes out, so do residents who like the simple joy of being naked in their own garden, according to a police force.
Upset neighbours of residents who loath clothes have been complaining to police in Reigate and Banstead, prompting the force to give advice on how to skirt around the issue.
Budding naturists are encouraged to have a chat with their neighbours and explain that they: want to sunbathe without clothes, have no wish to offend them, will be discreet and hope they will not object.
Writing on Surrey Police’s Reigate and Banstead Beat Facebook page, a spokesperson advised that the force would investigate cases of indecent exposure or outraging public decency.
A spokesperson added: “Confining your naturism to a part of the garden which can be screened from the view will obviously solve the problem.
“If none of the above is possible, you will have to decide whether your desire to be naked in your garden is more important to you than being on friendly terms with those around you.”
But nakedness among neighbours goes both ways it seems, and the spokesperson also advised: “On the other hand, no one has the right to spy on you.
“If you find that your neighbour is leaning out of an upstairs window or standing on the top of a step ladder in order to see you then he or she may well be committing an offence.”
(I think the most important part here is: talk to your neighbours. People are more accepting when you simply tell the truth.)
Nudist group on MeWe. (Note: this image is clickable!)
In case you wonder about this image: it’s a snip of the banner from a group on MeWe. MeWe is a rather unknown social media platform totally unlike Facebook. Where Facebook collects and sells everything you put there, MeWe leaves your things where they belong: with you.
On there I’ve found a nudist/naturist/clothing optional group. It feels like a good group, one with the right attitude. Porn mongers and other unlikable characters are removed to keep it a safe and sound environment.
Being clear on do’s and don’ts.
To make things clear from the get go:
Naturist/Nudist pictures in a Naturist lifestyle setting is always welcome, feel free to post, but any pictures with the sole focus on sharing genital pictures will be removed.
Enjoy yourself otherwise.
Please partake, share information and ideas.
Its more fun when everyone pitch in from time to time.
Not everyone is comfortable with nudity, not everyone is comfortable with their own bodies. Believe in yourself. !!
If you’re here to talk to true Naturists, hopefully gain a better understanding of the lifestyle, then I welcome you to this page.
Whatever your sexual orientation, no discrimination will be allowed.
Please note: Any member who don’t treat the ladies (or men) with respect, or by sharing dick pics, making lewd remarks etc will be banned and blocked without a second warning.
This is the first warning.
It’s that simple. If anyone is looking for a good place to hang out with nudists without having to be careful with images like at Facebook, Google+ and lately also on Pinterest (I know because my account there got killed), this might be worth your investigating while.
Account
Accounts, accounts, accounts
Yes, you’ll need an account on MeWe. Just like everywhere online these days.
If you don’t like setting up yet another account I suggest you move away from the Internet. 😉
Will we see you there?
It won’t cost you much. Just some time to get your account set up and the (simple) application to the group. We don’t let anyone join just like that to warrant the safety inside as much as possible.
Lots of people mistake naturism and nudism with a constant orgy. Those aren’t the people who know much about naturism and/or nudism. For this, many naturists state that their lifestyle has nothing to do with sex, which is correct. Being naked doesn’t mean you have sex all the time, just like wearing running shoes doesn’t mean you’re constantly running.
Naturists do have sex.
This may sound contradictory to the previous paragraph but it is the only easy way to create new naturists. Naked people aren’t sterile; they don’t use 3D-printers to create babies. They’re also human and, like all humans, they love touching and intimacy.
What better way is there to display that than by having sex with someone you appreciate?
In private.
That’s where naturists have sex. Just like most people they engage in their intimate activities without bothering others with them. If you run into people who are doing the wild thing where everyone can see them, you ran into exhibitionists or crazy people.
Modern ‘awareness’.
I understand that many people have problems keeping all these differences apart. This world is about fast, extreme, superficial. Not about subtleties that require a lot of thought – the powers that be don’t want us to do this thinking. Still it would be a good thing for the folks who keep messing up naturism and sex as being the same. There is a difference.
According to the blogger at The Sovereign State it isn’t. (Note that this is an article from August 2009.)
The writer of that blogpost claims that we were never meant to walk around naked. His statement to prove this is that, “if this were the case, we would have developed fur. We didn’t because we were smart enough to make clothes“. (See second paragraph in the article.)
The second paragraph claims: “In other words, had there existed “naturists” in these latitudes a few thousands years ago, they’d have simply died out.”
There are quite a few comments added to that post, some clearly from naturists.
The basic idea of clothing.
We put on clothes to be warm. In that view the writer of that post is entirely correct. What he seems to ignore (as so many others who are against anything naked unless perhaps it’s porn) is that little bit “to be warm“. As we all know, most people live in areas that aren’t cold all the time.
Some people even live in areas where it’s never cold, like in Africa or Central and South America.
Does that mean these people, who are known to be naked, are wrong? Should they wear clothes because their naked, naturist appearance isn’t natural?
Lustful eyes.
Another paragraph in that post gives me a lot of reason to believe that this person shows something about himself instead of the average naturist:
I really don’t care if people choose to make themselves look ridiculous by adopting a naturist lifestyle, but some people drag their children into it and that’s what bothers me. Of course they argue that there’s nothing sexual about their perversion, but this is just wishful thinking. Their children, teenage girls most worryingly, are exposed to lustful eyes.
Anyone who reads this and feels him-or herself a proper nudist or naturist will cringe at this. “Ridiculous” isn’t how I feel when I wear no clothes. “Free” is much closer to it. One more chalked up for ignorance and prejudice, folks.
I’ve seen naked children at nude beaches and at resorts. I’ve yet to find kids who are happier than they, despite the watchful eyes of their parents and other adults who look after them. Oh, I mean lustful eyes of course.
Clothes are great.
I’m serious. But only when the conditions call for them.
When it’s hot we don’t need them. Unless you think that an air conditioning system is natural.
Yes. You. Are you converting people to naturism and/or nudism?
And if so, do you have any success with that? Please share.
I never try to convert people to nudism and I have several reasons for that.
Reason 1: Respect.
If you’re pushing your opinion onto other people, you show a total lack of respect. Note that this is not the same as telling people what you think and feel.
Do you like having people going on and on, taking up your time, talking about things you know you don’t want to hear? Probably not. It’s that with our way of life.
Sometimes people aren’t ready for it and they don’t want to hear about it constantly, no matter how good your intentions are. Respect other people’s opinion and way of life.
Reason 2: Being ready.
People can be not ready to engage in naturism. You need to understand that they, like everyone of us, grew up in their own environment with their own beliefs and convictions.
Many of them ‘know’ that being naked is not good, abnormal, sinful, not like their God told them to live and whatever other reason you can think of. There are plenty of them.
Trying to convert such people will only make them angry. You’re actually pushing them away from the nude lifestyle. It’s one thing to tell them how you live, another to push them into it. If someone is interested in some way or another, you can talk about it. If they’re still interested you can invite them. Don’t tell anyone he or she has to try it, though. The world and in many cases religion already puts enough ‘have to’s’ on people, having another one is not what most people need.
Reason 3: be the change.
Mahatma Gandhi
This is the only proper way to demonstrate how you feel, how you are and how you wish to continue. Tell people who you are and what you are. See if they are curious. If not: at least you have told your story. If yes: they will ask more.
Be the one you say you are. If you say you love to be naked and you have the option to be naked at home: do it. Tell the people they ‘risk‘ seeing you undressed when they come to visit. There’s always the option for them to warn you that they’re coming and please put something on. At that point it’s up to you do do that or decline that. Here comes the respect part again as well. It’s partly from your side but certainly also from their side. If they can’t respect you to be the way you want in your home then they should invite you over to their home.
End words.
Maybe you agree with all this. Maybe you have entirely other ideas. I respect that. These views are mine.
Whatever you feel, thank you for reading this far. If you have something to say about it, there’s always the comment box. Share your ideas. Tell me about them.
Teach me, expand my knowledge, but don’t try to convert me.
You have missed a post last week. That’s because I didn’t post a post here last week. It was kind of rough as on Tuesday I was told my contract wasn’t renewed. So much for that job.
Now to the topic at hand. Wiki. You all have heard of it, right? Wikipedia? On a hunch I jumped onto the Internet (don’t worry, not much got damaged and I hid the evidence) and I discovered there is no proper nudism wiki! Did I miss it in my search?
If you know of one, do let me know.
Wikis are great ways to convey information in a clear and easy to understand way, like this Wikihow page on becoming a nudist. It would be very simple to set up a wiki on this site. Would I have some support in setting this up and especially maintaining it from the people who read this post? Do you think it would be something valuable to have, to point people to, to spread the reality about our preferred lifestyle?
Oh wow, I had no idea you’d be running up for this opportunity! 😀
You’ve probably heard about it, seen plenty of examples of it. The one-finger selfie. Apparently it started though an Anime character that demonstrated how to do it:
I had an interesting little exchange about those on Twitter a while ago when someone said that these one-finger selfies might invite people over to nudism.
Nudism
Your blogger, visiting the U.K.
There is always an chance that someone is getting interested in nudism because of such selfies. I really doubt that though. This kind of selfie creates the same ‘desire to see’, the same temptation that certain kinds of (lack of) clothing invokes. I think they are more prone towards that other kind of nudity (we might call it porn) than towards nudism.
Most of the time, as far as I know, nudists don’t take off their clothes just for a nude picture. Nudism is a life style, not a picture hiding something from someone. People who live the life of nudism and/or naturism aren’t afraid to bare it all, to show it all. The difference is that being naked and showing oneself naked in nudism is normal.
People who strip especially for a one-finger selfie will probably put on their clothes immediately after taking the photo (or a few of them).
Fine line
There probably is a fine line between nudism and provocative exhibitionism in these selfies. I am not in favour of these selfies. Nudism and naturism are in heavy weather as it is, the world seems to turn to puritanism in many places. Promoting wholesome nudity should be done in a social setting, in an open and honest setting. Not through something as semi-secretive, something titillating as the one-finger selfie.
To each their own
Of course it’s up to everyone for themselves if they want to participate in these displays of their body. Some people think it’s fun. Good for them. Some people, like the person I chatted with on Twitter, thinks it might bring people into nudism. Good for them. Let’s hope these selfies open up something good, something more like body-acceptance.
On one of the days in Charco del Palo I talked to a German lady who was in apartment close to mine.She said she and her husband were there for the second time. Like me. They had been to Tenerife (another Canary Island) before finding Charco. Her biggest gripe against the clothed community on Tenerife was the snooping of people regarding clothes. She said, “What hindered me at some point was that people were staring at me to see if I was wearing something I might have worn before during that vacation.” She really looked disgusted as she told me this. Being in a naturist village was so much easier. “You’re always dressed well here,” she said and smiled big.
She and her husband had tried naturism before and one day had decided to come to Charco del Palo and find out what true nude life would be. She told me that they had decided to come back to Charco del Palo every year. That realisation took them about two minutes. They, like so many others there, love the freedom and the absence of clothes. She really looked relieved when she told me she was glad to be rid of all that “putting on clothes”, as she called it (‘Angekleide‘ was the German word she used.)
We talked about our experiences and feelings towards going back to the overdressed world, and how great it was to be able to go out walking along the beach or in the Cocoteros hills close to the village.
It was very nice to talk with her. A conversation between two like-minded people, sitting in the sun, dressed in SPF30. (Her husband was helping someone rebuild part of their house. She told me that he didn’t know how to relax.)
As we sat there talking, several dressed ones passed us. None of them dared to look over, the way proper prudes are. The German lady remarked at some point that she’d seen weird things at the beach, like dressed people getting themselves into trouble, unable to climb out of a cave, because of their restricting clothing. Makes you wonder why they didn’t simply take the stuff off and get themselves into safety instead of having to rely on other people.
In Wicca and Paganism/Neo-paganism, the term skyclad is used to refer to ritual nudity. Some Wiccan groups, or Traditions, perform some or all of their rituals skyclad.
Right, you probably wonder why I made you read that.
Pagans
I’m a Pagan. Pagans are folks who don’t follow any of the large religions with just one god. Enough of that, though, this post is about being skyclad. Being nude, obviously, clothed in sky.
And this is a way how pagans can perform their rituals. Skyclad.
Not all of them do. It’s a matter of choice.
Why do I bring this up? Well, on the friend of all naturists and nudists, Facebook (I’ll wait for all the laughter and boo-calls to end now…) I had an interesting discussion with a Wiccan friend of mine concerning burkinis.
You know, those unfriendly slabs of cloth that Islamic women can wear to beaches. She said that she was in favour of them because that way those women could go to the beach if they wanted. “Because everyone has the right to go to the beach the way they want.”
I asked her how she felt about nude beaches. Her response was that such a thing wasn’t right, because “at some point there is enough naked flesh“.
This of course made me ask her how that mixed with her previous statement about having the right to go to the beach the way you want. This, she said, was a matter of common decency. Because being naked wasn’t decent. (Note that I know she has done plenty of skyclad rituals.)
The minds of people and their attitude towards our lifestyle keep surprising me. Even someone who isn’t against nudity in one form can pull back from nudity in another form.
Safety
I think it has to do with safety. Someone who engages in a nude ritual does so with people (s)he knows, feels safe with. People like us, who engage in nude life do so with people we know and feel safe with. We have the advantage here because we don’t have such a tiny group of people we dare to trust.
Naturists and nudists are nude for (mostly) a common goal: not wearing clothes. For feeling free. For experiencing nature in the most optimal way. The way I like to do that is having nude walks. As many as I can. Along beaches, in forests, in the mountains. As long as I can feel the air on me, move without being hindered by cloth and such.
Skyclad on a beach on Fuerteventura
I wonder if you, the reader of this piece, have experiences with people who condone nudity in one way but are very opposed to it the other way. I’d like to hear about them.
And in the mean time: stay happy, be nude as much as you can.
.jpg/325px-%C3%89douard-Henri_Avril_(25).jpg)
This may sound contradictory to the previous paragraph but it is the only easy way to create new naturists. Naked people aren’t sterile; they don’t use 3D-printers to create babies. They’re also human and, like all humans, they love touching and intimacy.
That’s where naturists have sex. Just like most people they engage in their intimate activities without bothering others with them. If you run into people who are doing the wild thing where everyone can see them, you ran into exhibitionists or crazy people.
As we all know, most people live in areas that aren’t cold all the time.
Anyone who reads this and feels him-or herself a proper nudist or naturist will cringe at this. “Ridiculous” isn’t how I feel when I wear no clothes. “Free” is much closer to it. One more chalked up for ignorance and prejudice, folks.
I’m serious. But only when the conditions call for them.
If you’re pushing your opinion onto other people, you show a total lack of respect. Note that this is not the same as telling people what you think and feel.
People can be not ready to engage in naturism. You need to understand that they, like everyone of us, grew up in their own environment with their own beliefs and convictions.
Maybe you agree with all this. Maybe you have entirely other ideas. I respect that. These views are mine.
Now to the topic at hand. Wiki. You all have heard of it, right? Wikipedia? On a hunch I jumped onto the Internet (don’t worry, not much got damaged and I hid the evidence) and I discovered there is no proper nudism wiki! Did I miss it in my search?
And this is a way how pagans can perform their rituals. Skyclad.
This of course made me ask her how that mixed with her previous statement about having the right to go to the beach the way you want. This, she said, was a matter of common decency. Because being naked wasn’t decent. (Note that I know she has done plenty of skyclad rituals.)
