@gwalterj thank you for that, should have checked before posting and would have spotted my smelling pistake! 🤣
I have gone nude on non nude beaches in the UK and abroad. There’s a long beach at Barmouth where it’s easy to find a quiet area. Some beaches in Devon are cool, even some of the most popular beaches are fine, I’ll go early for a swim before the masses descend. Most of the time if you respect others then it’s fine.
ACCOUNT CLOSED
@hannah I may be wrong and have little evidence but I think the situation is different between the genders in community acceptance. In another thread a member pointed out the distinction between what is legal and what is socially acceptable.
During my working life most of my colleagues were female and in the summer at the merest hint of sunshine, they'd be out in the park/rest area hitching up their skirts or loosening tops to catch a bit of colour and extinguish tan lines. None of the male clinical staff did likewise, and I can imagine the howls of laughter/indignation towards chaps joining them in their 'speedos'! Even I'm laughing writing this...
The only 'meerkats' I've ever seen are male? (How they reproduce is beyond me) Consequently a naturist female on a non-naturist beach I suggest will attract smiles, glances and sadly... pests. A naturist male if he's not cautious, complaints, disparaging remarks, and attention by Mr Plod I guess, ...whether it's legal or not. I can't speak from experience here as I only use designated areas and even then, discretely.
On the other hand we still have the ongoing argument over public breast-feeding and I know in the USA women have been arrested for having the 'wrong' type of bikini... (And that's usually from other women complaining.)
You know I'm not sure I agree with the meerkats thing and non-naturist locations. Seems more like the meerkats spend most of their time congregating at C/O beaches, meanwhile if you dare to go bare at other locations the regular from folks/textiles tend not to bother you or are generally polite enough to let you just do your thing. This is true of my and my partner's experience, and true whenever I've seen young females skinny-dipping at non-naturist places. To a degree it's the best way of avoiding the meerkats!
Honestly, naturist or not, we tend to just go by how quiet and peaceful a place is, oddly that makes some beaches more comfortable for nudity than any official beach in the UK.
You know I'm not sure I agree with the meerkats thing and non-naturist locations. Seems more like the meerkats spend most of their time congregating at C/O beaches, meanwhile if you dare to go bare at other locations the regular from folks/textiles tend not to bother you or are generally polite enough to let you just do your thing. This is true of my and my partner's experience, and true whenever I've seen young females skinny-dipping at non-naturist places. To a degree it's the best way of avoiding the meerkats!
Honestly, naturist or not, we tend to just go by how quiet and peaceful a place is, oddly that makes some beaches more comfortable for nudity than any official beach in the UK.
I had a quick look at the web site and they're missing a lot of the beaches used by people in Hampshire as well as the river places. A good start though.
Boundaries are there to be stretched!
I will strip off and sunbathe at any location that I think is sufficiently out of public view. This has included the Thames at Runnymede, several local lakes and rivers as well as many beaches.
If I am forced (by the family) to use a textile beach I still refuse to do the towel dance and simply change quickly.
Why would anyone think that getting naked to put on, or take off, a swimsuit is anything other than normal? Except for the knowing, of course, for whom the swimsuit itself is abnormal.
Boundaries are there to be stretched!
When kayaking on the Clyde I’ve spotted nude sunbathers within spitting distance of a very popular local beach, yards from the main road too. The wall behind them and a few rocks were all that screened them from full public view, but anyone could wander (or paddle) past at any time.
I gave them a friendly wave as I paddled on. None of my fellow paddlers mentioned anything about them so I didn’t point them out either. Maybe they just accepted them as they were. If you were the sunbathers, good on you 👍
Smooth again, stayed hairy for as long as I could.
@leefos I assume you mean the BN web site. This only lists the beaches with a long history of frequent naturist use or where nudity has been sanctioned by the local authority or landowner.
I think it would be impossible to list all the beaches and other waterside locations regularly used for naked swimming and/or sunbathing and it has not been attempted.
JOhn
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.
George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionaries
I was looking at the iswimnu.de web site mentioned earlier in the thread.
Boundaries are there to be stretched!
I was looking at the iswimnu.de web site mentioned earlier in the thread.
I had noticed that it had a lot of omissions but this is so common with this type of naturist web site that I considered not worth mentioning.
You might have done better to reply to the original post with the typo in the web address - I might not have made that wrong assumption.
JOhn
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.
George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionaries
I've done this a couple of times. Last time was at Slapton Sands. It was very hot and didn't fancy the extra mile or so to the naturist section. Hardly anyone about in the middle section of the beach. Lying down near the sea edge, slipped the shorts off for a sun bathe. Kept an eye out for walkers on the path above and no- one noticed. Quickly went in the sea and had a great cooling off nude swim. The water gets deep quickly (useful when naked!) and beach is shingle which is ok until you you find yourself having to stagger you way back to your towel. Suggest a sunshade and flip-flops... or being less lazy and going to the designated naturist section!
When down in East Devon, I often use Branscombe beach at the far end away from the car park. Nobody who has passed by has made any comments. In fact the only comment I have had was from a group of ladies who, when I emerged from the sea in April, said "looks like its cold in there" and we all laughed and got on with what we wanted to do.
Following on from some comments above, skinny dipping in general I think is much more accepted than being naked in public places i.e. walking into the water nude then returning nude and covering up most people accept - I suspect since so many have done it especially when jounger. Many do accept a nked person, but for some reason will be worried about their kids seeing a naked body! Re finding areas not listed or known to permit nudity - as long as (as previously stated) you are not in an area where many people will be - what's the problem.