On Tuesday 7 September I joined the Singles Outdoor Club (SOC) for a walk just west of Swindon. As usual I drove to the nominated railway station to offer lifts to any walkers arriving by train, given the rather poor weather forecast for the day I did not expect to see many arrivals and when there were three drivers and only two people got off the trains I was not surprised.
After losing the car that was leading the way to the pub where everyone else was to gather I was a little later joining the main group than planned, fortunately I was not the last and so had time for a swift pint of “Arkells 2B” before the off. Once everyone had arrived, a quick count up revealed that there were 21 walkers present, a far better turn out than I’d expected and it was good to see a number of familiar faces. (I was going to say old friends but somehow that seems unkind).
The walk started from a small rough parking area on the Ridgeway, a mile or two from the pub (the more convenient pub by the start having now turned into a curry house), so we all piled into a few cars to travel there.
The first section of the Ridgeway that we walked is rough tarmaced and not very pleasant on bare feet, so I elected to wear my Merrell sandal / trainers. These are good because they can be worn comfortably without socks making them easy to take off and put on if required; I usually hang them from the back of my rucksack on a cord if I’m not wearing them, that way they don’t make my lunch muddy.
Most of the group were naked under the cloudy sky within a minute or so of the off, though some folks elected to remain dressed against the elements. There was a quick cover up a few minutes later as a car went past. The driver was staring resolutely ahead but the dog travelling with him did not seem bothered by the few folks who had not covered up in time. We soon stripped off again and then turned down a narrow path into the valley to our left.
I reckoned the naked types were better dressed for the conditions, though some of the nettles overhanging the path had me wondering whether I was going to regret my lack of clothing. In the event I was able to stay naked with only one slight sting. Shortly after we reached the bottom of the path the heavens opened and we got thoroughly deluged as we looked for the leaders preferred lunchtime picnic spot. The group decided to press on for a while in the hopes that we could stop in the dry a little later. There was enough breeze that, with several hours to go, I elected to use a waterproof poncho to keep the worst of the weather off my otherwise bare skin; getting uncomfortably cold so early in a walk could really take the gloss off the day.
The rain did not last long and half an hour later my poncho was back in my bag as I warmed up in the hazy sunshine. The temperature was around 18C (64F) now that the rain had stopped and the wind dropped too. We paused for lunch in a large field, hidden from the track by a thick hedge heavy with fruits; rosehips, elderberries, sloes and crab apples.
After lunch the walk continued along the Ridgeway. At one point the message came back from the front to cover up for a couple of joggers heading towards us. In the event they saw us and turned around heading back the way they had come.
A little further along the route were a couple of signs where I got another walker to take some pictures:
Once we left the Ridgeway, the walk continued over more open ground towards an old earthwork hill fort. Before we got there there was another call to cover up for approaching walkers, however I elected to move off the path out of sight until they passed instead.
The remains of the earthworks provided a good spot to stop for a drink and a nibble, of which the group took full advantage.
From the fort we had a good view of Ashdown House, leased to one of my musical heroes, Pete Townshend of The Who. Although there was a van and some evidence of a gardener working, it did not look like anyone was in residence as all the shutters inside the windows were closed. Somehow I doubt whether I’d have wandered over to introduce myself, even if the great man had been home.
After tea we continued past Ashdown House and this tree that was just too impressive to pass without a picture:
Then we went across some open land before joining a section of minor road that necessitated a cover up. We walked about a mile along this road, accompanied by the drone of traffic on the nearby M4, before turning right towards our start point.
The group became rather strung out, as usual in the later stages of the walk, as some of the walkers grew anxious to get to the pub and a pint of beer, while others were too tired to hurry. It was on this stretch that a dog walker passed us on a parallel path just a few yards away. No one saw him until it was far too late to cover up and pretend, so we just stayed comfortable, greeted him and walked past. We did get a sort of mumbled reply, but the lack of eye contact suggested he was not too pleased to see us. Oh well, at least there was no negative reaction.
All too soon we were back at the Ridgeway just yards from the cars, I managed to get a final picture by a sign before dressing and travelling back to the pub for a good meal before heading home.
Checking my GPS revealed that we had walked a total of 10.6 miles at an average speed of a little under two miles an hour (including stops). Of that I had been naked for just over five hours.
All in all a very pleasant day and as a bonus I now have another walk route stored in my memory (and more permanently in the GPS) that is close to a motorway route I use fairly frequently. I have a feeling that I will be doing sections of this walk again.
Have fun,
Ian.[reason]Added to subject[/reason]
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Hi Ian
That was a fantastic report of your walk.
And some excellent photographs too.
Glad the weather eventually took a turn for the better!
Ali x
Back again!!!
Thanks Ali,
It is always good to know that somebody appreciates a report.
Have fun,
Ian.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Hi Ian
Excellent to report on what sounded like a really fun day in the downs - I know the area well - to be precise the Marlborough Downs and Avebury absolutely gorgeous scenery in the right weather. I have walked naked in that area and been spotted once or twice but no one said anything bad to me re. my nudity. I'm sure the people you passed wouldnt have been too bothered but it's great you covered such a long route and it's also good that so many turned up. That area of the world has been people for thousands of years and walking naturally through it seems the right thing to do.
The photos too were excellent - I would have taken more! What was the temperature? no one looks cold. 🙂
Thanks for the great report. Really would like to make one of these walks. Next year perhaps...
makes us northerners want to live in the south!
Hi Ian
Excellent to report on what sounded like a really fun day in the downs - I know the area well - to be precise the Marlborough Downs and Avebury absolutely gorgeous scenery in the right weather. I have walked naked in that area and been spotted once or twice but no one said anything bad to me re. my nudity. I'm sure the people you passed wouldnt have been too bothered but it's great you covered such a long route and it's also good that so many turned up. That area of the world has been people for thousands of years and walking naturally through it seems the right thing to do.
The photos too were excellent - I would have taken more! What was the temperature? no one looks cold. 🙂
Thanks, it is always nice to get positive feedback.
I grew up near Melksham and have walked west of Swindon many times but do not know the east side so well, however I have visited West Kennet Long Barrow and climbed Silbury Hill naked. Somehow being naked leaves me feeling more "connected" (horrible phrase but I don't know how better to express it) with the ancient people who built and lived in these places thousands of years ago.
I actually took about 40 pictures worth keeping (and about another 40 that I binned as duplicates or just plain garbage) so these are a sample that caught the flavour. I am rather cautious about posting pictures of other walkers unless I have their express permission to do so (hence the one shot with others is too distant to allow them to be identified unless you know exactly who you are looking for).
The temperature was about 12C in the rain shower but around 18 the rest of the time, very pleasant for walking, but some found it too cool to sit around unless they were out of the wind.
Have fun,
Ian.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
makes us northerners want to live in the south!
Why? There are plenty of oportunities for naked walks in the north... Have a look at this thread.
Have fun,
Ian.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Yesterday I joined the SOC for the last walk of the 2010 season. When I first decided to go on this walk I was expecting torrential rain, howling gales and all manner of pestilence; similar to the weather I experienced when driving to the last walk of 2009. In the event we had a glorious day with temperatures getting as high as 22C (72F).
Twenty two walkers assembled in the car park of the designated pub (the smarter ones having popped in for a pint of good foaming falling over water first) before setting off under a railway and across the fields. The first couple of fields were crossed fully dressed in deference to the overlooking houses but once the group entered a narrow fenced path, screened by trees clothes rapidly vanished into bags and the walk began in earnest.
The first part of the walk was not particularly memorable, but was pretty with some wide views across gently rolling valleys however the path rapidly turned into a beech wood across one of the stiles that was to become one of two noticeable features of the walk.
Given that large stretches of the walk are on stone covered paths, and the predominant local stone is flint, I had elected to wear boots for this walk. The first few paths under the beech trees soon convinced me that I had made a correct choice. Sharp stones and gnarly roots were everywhere and, had I been barefoot I would probably have spent so much time looking where I was about to place my feet that I’d have missed most of the walk.
The lunch stop was about three miles into this walk, a little further than usual and I have to confess that had I known it would be that long I might have explored my nosebag a little before setting out. We had our picnic sat at the edge of a field with no buildings or people in sight anywhere. It would have been a nice sheltered spot had there been any wind to worry about but since we had been lucky with the weather that did not matter this year.
After about half an hour the group set off again, continuing through woods and across an occasional more open area. I had seen little reason to get the camera out until we came to a wooded valley that I just could not resist. What really struck me was how well human skin merged with the background in these conditions.
A little further on the walk passed some fallen timber with a collection of mushrooms growing on it. I could not resist trying to get a perspective distorted shot, however I hit the limitation of my camera; with a minimum aperture of F8.0 I simply could not get sufficient depth of field to keep the foreground mushrooms and the background people in focus. This was the best of the three shots I took and may be the beginning of a justification (to myself) of the need for a DSLR; if I buy a Canon I would already have a bag full of lenses for it…
A little further on we reached a stile in the wood. As usual I was at the back of the group where I could sweep up any stragglers and also take pictures without getting other people in them; this meant that I could not ask anyone to take a picture of me crossing the stile. A convenient fence post, followed by a little postproduction to rotate and crop the resulting pictures, produced this shot of a Milfmog crossing the stile (albeit in the wrong direction!).
This part of the walk goes past a few small hamlets where we were asked to cover up by the walk leader. This is usual on SOC walks where the ethos is to avoid any form of confrontation. In the event we saw one moving around in any of these properties although we did meet one agricultural worker, with two dogs on the back of his quad bike, most of the group was dressed when h passed though a few had only managed to drape something in front of them. Nothing was said and although the farmer did not look too pleased his dogs were more interested in talking to the off duty guide dog that was walking with us. There were a couple more encounters on this walk, the first was as we were crossing this lane in the woods:
Stiles always slow the group down as we take it in turn to cross, our blind walker adding slightly to the delay. This is often a good thing as it provides a natural opportunity for the group to close up a little if it has become too strung out but sometimes, as here, it is a pain because of the road. I had just taken this picture and out the camera away when a car appeared around a bend and the driver got an eyeful he had not anticipated...
The third encounter was with a horse rider who appeared, moving slowly, through the undergrowth a mile or two after the halfway point, where two walkers had decided to catch a train back to the start. Again most of the walkers were covered up when he passed and although greetings were offered I did not hear any reply.
The path continues along some rather muddy paths, I mentioned that stiles were a very common feature on this walk, but somehow I suspect it will be remembered by most for the mud underfoot. The path pictured was fairly typical of the smaller paths after the halfway point:
Shortly after that picture was taken we passed a trig point, which deserved a photograph. Fortunately there was someone available to take the pictures for me as there was nowhere suitable to balance a camera:
(Incidentally, that is not censorship in the picture, nor do I have a strange and embarrassing affliction (at least, not one that can be seen in this picture 😉 ), that really is just a leaf where it happened to be…)
It was just as I got down that we spotted the horse rider coming back again. The two of us covered up (without making any fuss about it) but were too far behind the rest of the group to warn them. Not a problem, the rider went past with a cheerful “I wondered whether I’d catch up with you again” and was obviously not worried by our nudity. I guess he’d just been a little surprised when he first passed us.
The next small hamlet we passed required a cover up as usual but offered the chance for a quick self-portrait in a roadside mirror intended to make it safer to leave a private drive. This gives an idea of the simple wrap I use as minimal cover when I’m out walking:
I may one day get back for a quick nude picture but, given that the building just out of shot to my left is a pub, I suspect not unless I an do it very early one light summer morning. Maybe a thought for next year…
By this time it was gone 5pm and although it was still warm the light was starting to fade, so I put the camera away, just in time to pass this rather quaint cottage:
The house reminded me of the Gingerbread houses told of in fairy tales. The fact that, despite the avenue of trees off to the left, there is no road access, not even a track and that there is only a very faint path across the field just added to the impression.
We were still covered up as we crossed the field and then went past a group of teenagers who appeared to be making a home movie, complete with mad axeman dressed up as a shrouded monk. I don’t know what the significance of the monk is locally but since I soon found myself digging my camera out of my pack to picture this chap I guess I will have to look it up:
There were just a few more stiles to cross before ducking back under the main road and returning to the back of the pub for a well deserved beer at about 18:30. the walk had taken six and a half hours with a forty five minute lunch stop and a second break of about a quarter of an hour for a drink mid afternoon. According to my GPS we had walked 12.36 miles at an average (moving) speed of 2.6 mph (or 1.9 mph if all the stops, short and long, are included).
I thoroughly enjoyed this walk but have to say that the first half was more pleasant than the second half as it was more remote and less muddy. However, this walk started less than 15 miles from home so I can see it being used as the basis for some further exploration in future.
Have fun,
Ian.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Great walk report and photos, thanks for sharing with us all.
Cas & Jon
Great walk report and photos, thanks for sharing with us all.
Cas & Jon
Yes I certainly agree with that. I was also on the walk and Ian has given a very good account of it and illustrated it with some excellent pictures.
The only picture I took during the day was of the "Gingerbread" house. Whilst I never saw that many cameras being used on the walk I did see several people stopping to snap it.
Whilst I'm looking forward to the 2011 season, I will have to satisfy my naturist walking desires over the coming months, with the occasional ramble when circumstances and weather permit.
John
Again, thankyou for taking the time & trouble to post these reports, they are appreciated, John.
If i'd known i was going to live this long i'd have looked after myself better!
This walk looked great, the photo's are very good. It has inspired me to try out a naked walk. Went to a local wood today no one else in the carpark. Walked in to the wood some 15 - 20 minutes, had a good look around. All clear ! Just about to take off my jogging bottoms (thought these best, as they go over my walking shoes ) A man appeared with a cheery good morning. Then lost my bottle and found my way out of the wood. Is anyone else in Tamworth area looking to share a naked walk ? Or do you know of a suitable place to walk clothes free.
🙂
Thoroughly enjoyed this walk - my first one... great report!
Looking forward to more next year...
Chris
Great to hear what its really like to join one of the organised walks. Now, do I have the guts to try it??