Looking around for local places to skinny dip (Surrey area, or south-east England generally) I just found two references to the fact people used to swim nude at a place called Black Pond on Esher Common, Surrey. Most surprising of all is the fact that it was once more popular with women rather than men, and used to have changing huts (the foundations of which apparently still survive). Some people writing in to the comments page can remember nude swimming there in the 1940s and even in the 1970s!

The two references to this nude tradition are at the bottom of this local history site and here on a visitor website.

Anyone fancy joining me for a revival swim, in memory of our naked ancestors?

This is just the kind of location that some are looking for in the aspiration for part naturism.
Both BN and NAG are trying to progress this in the SE and London area.

Count me in!

Sounds a great idea 🙂

I'll visit and report back - though I'll be careful about mentioning it to BN as a suitable site... If it gets described as a naturist site in any way the local reaction would be pretty strongly against I'm sure. We'll see, it's difficult to know how to pitch these things, but it is at least a place with a history of nude bathing, even if it's fallen into disuse recently. Wonder how many other similar sites there are in Britain...?

Ah well, it was a nice idea... I visited the place today and it's not secluded enough for swimming.

They've built a broad track along one side of it, and even on a cold and drizzly weekday it was full of dog walkers. I suppose you could in theory slip into the water from the path, but there's no way anyone will be swimming here in the nude again. I did find one quiet corner (so I thought) and was about to start stripping off when some people appeared about 10 metres away on a woodland path I hadn't noticed. So scrub this off the list!

The hunt continues...

Just a random thought. Is it worth putting a sign up, professional street sign type saying naturist maybe seen in the area.... along those lines. Leave it a few weeks and go back, then see how many people walk  dogs there?!!!

I'd give the sign 10 minutes maximum before it's removed! It's an intensively managed open space now, there were several people around looking industrious with chainsaws and spades when I first arrived.

Plus I'm not an expert on dog walking, but I suspect the prospect of seeing nude bodies might just offer a break from the routine. Sadly skinny dipping there is now a non-starter, but there are other venues to explore...

Is this not how "dogging" started.

Mind you when we had a dog he never stopped long enough for us to look at anything when we walked him...or should say mountain biked him...LOL.