Sitting at a table under an umbrella,a book in one hand, a coffee in theother. The laughter of overexcitedchildren splashing about in the poolin front of me echoing against thetiles. Relaxed couples strolling aboutand chatting, enjoying the warmtemperature, glad to be away for theweekend. Occasionally a screamfrom the waterslide running abovemy head. Everyone naked. Includingme.There are between 14000 and 15000

paid-up members of British Naturism(BN), the organisation that supportsnaturists and promotes social nudityin the UK. They enjoy gettingtogether and taking their clothes off,whether on holiday abroad or at home.We all know the stereotype: oldcouples playing pétanque in the buff;long grey hair; saggy boobs andwrinkly bums; socks and sandalsperhaps. But is there more to it?BN says yes. It’s about getting an

all-over tan, the ‘bliss’ of swimming inthe nude, and meeting up with a groupof people who judge you for who youare, not for what you look like or whatclothes you wear. They organise eventsacross the country throughout thespring and summer, at campsites,swimming pools and Sun Clubs wherecouples, families, groups of friends andsingle people can get together in a safe,relaxed environment. BN is aware ofthe negative (and often humorous)reputation of naturism, but is eager toattract a younger crowd. AndrewWelch, BN’s Commercial Managersums it up when he says, ‘every

organisation, whatever they are, needsto get new blood, and the younger thebetter…What we’re offering is anexperience.’The usual student travel choices

involve either ‘discovering yourself ’on the tourist trail of a developingcountry or drinking too much andgetting sunburnt in Ibiza. Cannaturism offer an interestingalternative to all those clichéd travelplans, a way of taking advantage ofwhat the UK has to offer in terms ofcamping, swimming and sportsactivities? Here I am, at the secondannual BN Alton Towers naturistweekend to find out.The November weather is far from

ideal and wandering naked around acheesy theme park hotel is not reallywhat naturism is all about. But thisweekend is an extra to the seasonally-restricted naturist calendar, one lastchance to be naked and meet up withfriends before next spring. Perhaps not

the best moment for someone to trynaturism for the first time, but giventhat by the time the UK has warmedup, the academic year will havefinished and there will be no moreissues of London Student, it seemedsensible to take advantage of theopportunity to spend some time with470 British naturists - and inparticular the 40 or so active membersof the youth group Young BritishNaturists (YBN) - and experiencenaturism for myself.The weekend began at 6pm on

Friday evening, the moment when theSplash Landings Hotel (an establish-

ment even tackier than it sounds,complete with lifts that play the horn-pipe and wall-to-wall carpet designedto look like the sea swirling over sandand decking) closed to other visitorsand became the exclusive property ofBN. Nudity was welcome all weekenduntil midday on Sunday, when thehotel reopened to the public.A fully-clothed South African gave

me a wry smile as he handed me myroom key, thereby adding anotheranomaly to the weekend: all the hotelstaff were fully dressed, althoughapparently they were given theopportunity to join in once their shiftswere finished. So having found myroom I undressed, decked myself outin as many towels as I could find andventured up to the bar and lounge areaof the hotel. There I was introduced toDebbie and Joel, BN’s YouthRepresentatives. Much to my surprise,they and about half the YBN (whichincludes all BN member between the

ages of 16 and 30) gathered in the barwere fully clothed. Desperatelytucking and wrapping my towelsaround me while attempting not todrop my pint, I asked Debbie, who wasbrought up in naturism, for anexplanation. She told me that she likesdressing up and putting onmakeup fora night out and that although she hasnever doubted naturism as a pastime,she feels no obligation to be naked100% of the time. The predominantfeeling among the ‘YBNers’ I spoke tois that nudity should be context-basedand is an entirely personal choice;while plenty of them went naked in

the evening over the weekend, just asmany were dressed. David, anengineer, summed up the generalattitude: ‘why would you be naked inthe pub?’ Reassured that no one wouldjudge me for not being naked – as wellas a reluctance to queue up at a hotcarvery buffet in the buff – I dressedfor dinner.The moment word got around of

my motive for being there naturists ofall ages appeared to gravitate towardsme to tell me about their experience ofnaturism. Any time I sat down bymyself I was immediately joined bysomeone eager to share his or heropinions and ask about my impressionof the weekend. Finding me asympathetic listener and at ease withpublic nudity, there was often a senseof excitement among those I talked to,the feeling that perhaps I could bepersuaded: that naturism had wonanother supporter.Almost everyone eating at the

hotel’s buffet restaurant, Flambo’sFeast, was naked. At the next tableover sat a family of six, threegenerations of naturists enjoying theiroverpriced and over-cooked dinner.The daughter, a girl of about fourteen,kept a scarf draped over her, but itseemed to be more a fashion choicethan a way to conserve her modesty as

she wasn’t the slightest bit concernedwhen it slipped down. She and heryounger brother chatted to theirparents and grandparents in an utterlyunselfconscious way; they seemedmore at ease with each other thanmany other non-naturist families yousee on holiday together.As in the bar the YBN had an area

reserved for them at dinner, withDebbie and Joel superintending thesocialising. As the families and oldercouples retired for the night, the groupdwindled until just me and three‘YBNers’ remained: Paul and Mikewere both naked; Phil was fullyclothed. Perhaps unsurprisingly ouridle chitchat quickly became apersonal and frequently opinionatedconversation about naturism.The friends know each other

through their membership of YBN(although at 32 years-old, Mike is nowolder than the official age limit of thegroup), having attended naturistevents in the past. They all find theidea of congregating at SplashLandings for a naked weekend indoorsa little silly but have come alongbecause it is a rare opportunity to meetup - they live far enough away fromeach other that socialising outside ofBN events involves a lot of planningand expense. Each says that if the

others hadn’t been going, he wouldhave stayed away. Although they haveall been naturists for years, each is still‘in the closet’ in some respect, whetherat work or to friends and family. Paulis not in the least ashamed of hishobby but fears being judgednegatively by those around him: ‘can

you imagine what would happen if mycolleagues in the city found out?’ Mikeexplains that his family eventuallyguessed when they recognised thename of a famous French naturistresort on a bumper sticker on his car;a secondary school teacher, he feelsthat it is probably wise to keeping hisinterest a secret from his adolescentpupils.They, like most of the young people

I met over the course of the weekend,

are a completely normal group of guys,for whom naturism is about enjoyingnice weather and the company of one’sfriends. They are bemused by the ‘oldschool, hardcore naturists who ‘wantto be naked in absolutely everysituation, 100% of the time’ but havevery little to do with them. Mike’s

view I found echoed throughout theweekend: ‘it’s a personal choice andit’s dependent on context’.By the pool the next morning I met

Helen, experiencing naturism for thefirst time at the age of 24. She wasthere with her boyfriend Ben, who hasbeen a naturist since he was 16. Helenexplains that Ben never put any pres-sure on her to try naturism, but thatshe ‘wanted to give it a go because hewas really into it’. Very few of the non-

naturists I have told about this week-end share Helen’s open-mindedness.Her ‘I’ve got to try something. If youdon’t like it you never have to do itagain’ attitude reveals self-confidencethat is rare in a society that judges itswomen on what they look like. Helen

acknowledges this and admits that shedoesn’t know if she would be able ‘torally up any of [her] female friends be-cause ‘it’s a body image thing ’.Her comment is backed up by the

fact that there is a notable minority ofsingle (i.e. not accompanied bypartners) women in the YBN group.Andrew Welch acknowledges thatthere is a gender discrepancy in BN asa whole and that it is in fact, ‘a globalproblem’. He has no explanation forthis other than a suggestion thatperhaps women are simply more proneto body image issues than men. Hesays however that ‘the majority ofwomen that come into naturism forthe first time do seem to enjoy it’.He does not mention the

possibility that a woman might feelsexually threatened in a naturistenviroment. This idea occurred to mebefore arriving at Splash Landings,and I did notice the lack of youngwomen in the group, but at no pointwas I made to feel uncomfortable. Thewhole atmosphere was remarkablynon-sexual, even in the bar in theevenings. The men I spoke to men-tioned relationships and flings withwomen they have met at naturistevents but there is no sleaziness totheir stories and their behaviour onthe weekend itself was impeccable.Naked, I was just another body; it waswhile wearing clothes in the eveningthat I received stares.It was the social aspect more than

the fear of being seen naked by othersthat Helen was initially nervous about:‘It’s like your worst nightmare isn’t it?Meeting a load of new people, butyou’re naked!’. She describes how onthe first evening she (and many ofthose around her) kept their clotheson, so she was able to socialise withoutworrying about the nudity element,while at the same time getting‘acclimatised’ to the new situation.Helen regards her experience as anentirely positive one.‘We have this cultural perception of

what we should be doing and I thinkyou need to let that go and actually doit for yourself. It’s liberating becauseyou’re not being judged on what youwear; you’re judged by who you are.’Helen is now planning to attend the

International Naturist Federation(INF) Youth Spring Meeting 2008 inthe Netherlands.Over the course of the weekend

there were various activities on offer:naked tai chi, pub quiz, life drawing,bingo and disco. What struck me

about all these planned activities washow contrived it all seemed. But then,looking at the demographic of thosetaking part this is hardly surprising:many middle-aged (and older), middleEngland couples enjoy these types ofactivities so it stands to reason that thenaturist population will enjoy themtoo. The members of YBN behaved asone would expect of any other youngpeople in this situation: they avoidedthe activities, hung out by the pool allday and split off into their own littlegroups during the pub quiz and disco,where they got drunk and chuckled atthe oldies doing the naked TimeWarp.Naturism may not be for everyone

but it’s difficult to argue with the logicthat it’s nice to wear nothing onholiday in a hot place. How differentis going topless from being entirelynaked anyway? If global warming evergrants our fair isles summer again whynot swallow your fear and head off to aSun Club or a naturist beach toexperience a social situationunconcerned with appearances. Youmight just have a good time.

www.london-student.net · 14th January 2008LondonStudent NATURISM TRAVEL · 1514· TRAVEL NATURISM LondonStudent

www.london-student.net · 14th January 2008

LLeeaavvee eevveerryytthhiinngg bbeehhiinndd ((iinncclluuddiinngg yyoouurr ccllootthheess)) Overseasreport

Each issue this column features adifferent study or work abroad experience, direct from London students currently on their yearaway. From Paris to Panama City,from Berlin to Beijing, they tell youwhat it means to live in a differentculture, whether far away or close tohome. In this issue, Roshni Shah reports on life in Leuven, Belgium,where she is studying at the University of Leuven.

In true paradoxical style, Belgiumis known as Europe’s capital yet iswidely believed to be its most boringcountry – so what compelled me tostudy here for a year? The locals are friendly and happy

to speak to you in your own language,the students are some of the most affable you will meet, and your “kot”-mates will undoubtedly surprise youby defying the age old myth that theBelgians are reserved.Having studied in the library or

lounged in the bagel bar with friends,seen the sights and eaten a few chocolates, waffles and pancakes inLeuven, you are not far from the trainstation and could be anywhere in Belgium within two hours. The country has many attractions, includ-ing the tourist hotspot Bruges, and the beautiful Ardennes, home to caves andforests. The train network on the continent means that you can even be‘abroad’ within a few hours, whichleaves you no choice but to take advantage.Leuven is a true Belgian city. In the

daytime, experience its grand historical buildings, cobbled streets,waffle stands, coffee shops and abundance of students on bikes. Thenightlife offers beautiful lights, a variety of beers, a myriad of bars, hidden away clubs, late night food,and the knowledge that you will always bump into funny and inebriated friends (sometimes still onbikes). Its size means that you may getbored, but there is always somethingon offer. One of its biggest attractionsis the Stella Artois factory, which,given that the population is predominantly composed of students,seems remarkably well placed. Thissmall city even boasted the MarktRockmusic festival this summer.Leuven’s biggest and best claim,

hot chocolate aside, is its university,being one of the oldest and most reputable in Europe. It can only be agood thing when you want to leaveyour year abroad with an enhanced education and cultured experience.

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Desperately tucking my towelsaround me while attemptingnot to drop my pint of lager

Reluctance to queue up at ahot carvery buffet in the buff

All photos: British Naturism/Shaun Cardy

For more information visitwww.british-naturism.org.uk . Student membership is £15 peryear, as opposed to the usual £27adult price.

There are lots of naturist placesclose to London if you’re interestedin giving it a try, most of which offerfree introductory visits for non-naturists. Diogenes Sun Club,SouthBucks, www.diogenessunclub.co.uk,The Naturist Foundation, Orpington,www.naturistfounda-tion.org, Oakwood Sun Club, Romford, www.oakwoodsun.co.uk;The White House, Caterham,www.whitehouseclub.demon.co.uk;The Sun-folk Society, St Albans,www.sun-folk.org.uk; Watford Naturist Swimming Club;www.wnsc.org.uk

There are several naturistbeaches accessible from Londontoo, at Brighton, Fairlight Cove nearHastings, and Leysdown.

TRAVEL INFOTRAVEL INFO

Could naturism offer an interesting alternative toall those clichéd student travel plans?

The weather too cold for regular naturist pursuits and Alton Towers closed and offering discount rates for largegroups at their hotels, 470 members of British Naturism welcome Jo Caird for a mini-break with a difference