I'm an NT member - I shall lobby for a hot-tub area to be built

Studland on a dry day when all of a sudden a fierce wind picks up, sandblasting the lower legs as the ultra fine sand quickly removes the top layer of skin, beach users attempting to fold down sun shelters and roll up wind breaks. Yachts beating to shelter into Poole Harbour. Coast Guard helicopter hovering overhead warning yachts that a storm was imminent. June, 2006. Never visited since. Shame on me.

I think people are "time poor" these days, and the thought of a long drive to a beach that may be naturist that day, and the chance that the weather will still be OK when you get there puts people off.
We are not big users of UK CO beaches, but we stopped trying to go to slapton on weekends because the car park is so small, a bit of a contradiction I suppose.

This is why I choose to live within 45 minutes of 5 different naturist beaches.

Tony(2)

Are numbers at your club growing though Frenchy? Posts seem to suggest that very few clubs are thriving [as it growing and getting new younger members]. A lot more people admit to having sunbathed nude abroad but its just not happening here

I'm not sure if the numbers are increasing, but we certainly seem to be getting new members, couples and singles. I imagine the numbers stay pretty constant.

My young family and I used to visit Morfa Dyffryn regularly but then unfortunately the number of 'meerkats' increased and on 2 occasion we witnessed lewd behaviour taking place on the top of the dunes in plain view of the beach. I'm afraid I can't risk my kids being around that behaviour. We haven't been back for 3 years since the last episode.

As the above. More and more UK beaches are now on the swingers and doggers networks, plus any number of general bloody nuisances who appear at the slightest chance of seeing naked flesh. It seems to be a consensus about how naturism has made massive strides in visibility and acceptance in the UK in recent years. Not in attempting to enjoy a peaceful day on a beach it hasn't. I also remember (and I might be over 40, but I am not as yet qualifying for the government's new dementia tests) how I was most certainly not the only child around on Corton and Studland. I suppose the current trend of thinking that children must never be naked or see naked people has put paid to that, added to the natural desire of responsible naturist parents to not have other people spoiling their children's day.

Progress eh.

Club memberships? Of the three I have visited last year, they seem to be doing pretty well, in visitors and in members, especially White Rose. Believe me, being female, you start to get the appeal of them.

It,s probably a mixture of things.Cheap package holidays,beach misuse by swingers,doggers,the British attitude to naturism(snigger-snigger) and not forgetting the British weather.Also the relatively small number of naturist beaches we have in this country. 🙂

We were on the official naturist beach at Budligh Salterton a few years ago, when one of the tourist boats from Exmouth came close inshore and made a slow pass of the beach.
I'm not all that bothered about being seen naked, but I draw the line at being a tourist attraction.

Are numbers at your club growing though Frenchy? Posts seem to suggest that very few clubs are thriving [as it growing and getting new younger members]. A lot more people admit to having sunbathed nude abroad but its just not happening here

The numbers attending Western Swimming Club are certainly growing. Over the last 5 years we have changed from being lucky to get a dozen to turn up each week to now an average of about 30 every Friday. There are always new people making enquiries, especially from couples and younger people.

As other have said, the beaches in the UK are not that welcoming, what with the long walks to get to them, the use by others for illegal activities, the unreliable weather or weather forecasting and the ease and cost of a holiday abroad in the sun.

We were on the official naturist beach at Budligh Salterton a few years ago, when one of the tourist boats from Exmouth came close inshore and made a slow pass of the beach.
I'm not all that bothered about being seen naked, but I draw the line at being a tourist attraction.

The same happens at Slapton.

We were on the official naturist beach at Budligh Salterton a few years ago, when one of the tourist boats from Exmouth came close inshore and made a slow pass of the beach.
I'm not all that bothered about being seen naked, but I draw the line at being a tourist attraction.

Slightly off-topic
If you are worried about being a tourist attraction don't try canal boating through Camden Locks - if I had a pound for every picture in Japan of me on my boat I'd be a very rich man.

another small reason maybe ...... Parking charges ?
I love going to Saunton Sands , I usually cycle and ride over the dunes at Braunton Burrows which can bring you out close to the unofficial naturist parts..... But leaving expensive bikes on beach if I go for swim, and the fact of pushing a bike through sand is a pain in the arris !! So sometimes I drive and park in SS car park .... Unfortunately now, they have put the parking fees way way up..... It can be as much as £15 to park all day ! It used to be a £4:50 all day charge.... There were even concessions for local people .... Holiday makers paid slightly more ...... Now greed has taken over

I'm inclined to agree that numbers on beaches have gone down a bit. It's a bit difficult for me to judge as I moved from the busy South East to the less populated South West in 2014 but until then I was a regular at Leysdown in Kent for many years and it seemed less busy by the time I left compared to the early years. Down here I was supprised to see just how few made it to the isolated beach I now use, especailly in the main tourist season. In fact the locals seemed to stay away until September when the tourist numbers died down - or was that just a poor summer and better autum in 2015. Time will tell.

We were on the official naturist beach at Budligh Salterton a few years ago, when one of the tourist boats from Exmouth came close inshore and made a slow pass of the beach.
I'm not all that bothered about being seen naked, but I draw the line at being a tourist attraction.

The same happens at Slapton.Ijjust waved to the people on the tourist boat as it went by when i was spending the day on Slapton. 🙂

MJ Tacey

 

We used to go but now unable to access naturist beaches due to one of us in a wheelchair. Has a lot of people have all ready said computers and less free time. The other big thing I do not think any one as mentioned is more of us are finding out we can go naked in our our gardens and the neighbours do not mind.