70 year old
formed in 1940 then. During the war - weren't they a bit "over-looked" by aircraft ?
Members of a Surrey naturist club have reacted with fury to plans to build a tower block which would overlook their clothes-free sanctuary. The 70-year-old White House Club, which has 300 members on its books, is objecting in the strong possible terms to the proposed erection of a five story block which would overlook its …
The club is near the airfields at both Biggin Hill and Kenley, and it was much frequented in the 1940s by Service personnel.
Weren't we supposed to be fighting for freedom in this country, then? My memory's not what it used to be, but I think we were, and that we won. So, has something happened to freedom since?
Correct me if I'm wrong, the point of being a naturist is the desire to be free and uninhibited with regards to wearing clothes, and in fact one of the arguements is about desexualising nudity. It *shouldn't* matter who sees you naked if these are your beliefs, and they should be if you're at a naturist resort.
Once the flats are up, residents (who naturally won't be told about the nudey club in advance) will start complaining to the council about the nudey club.
In fact, going by some recent cases, the simple fact that flats potentially housing children overlook the site will automatically convert the consenting unclad adults into megaperv paedomonsters in the eyes of the law.
I'm not a nudist, but I do kind of feel for the members. F'nar.
(And I was trying so hard to be serious, too.)
... to be in your back garden, naked, playing a game.
Actually it's not.
IANAL, but quoting the Sexual Offences Act 2003:
66 Exposure
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)he intentionally exposes his genitals, and
(b)he intends that someone will see them and be caused alarm or distress.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/66
Also
67 Voyeurism
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, he observes another person doing a private act, and
(b)he knows that the other person does not consent to being observed for his sexual gratification.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/67
So if someone is in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, they can be nude without problem, but if someone's peeping at them and getting their jollies from this then that person will be committing an offence.
If they can't get the development stopped, I suggest they invest in some Leylandii.
If the local council feels that the naturists no longer need the privacy of their own club and grounds, and that nakedness in public is not a problem, then this allows them to be naked wherever they like, i.e. in the parks, public swimming pools, etc. It would be hypocritical to argue otherwise.
AFAIK from family members who tend to be clothing-optional in hot weather, having other people seeing isn't really the problem. The real problem, as the bloke in the news recently flagged up, is that people could buy houses or flats overlooking known-knudist places and then complain to the police about how shocked they are to see naked bodies. The naturists have put up nice big screens so that no-one can currently see in, but those are not designed to cope with a 5-storey tower block (or a 3-storey house, in the case of the bloke in the news). So they're likely to be criminalised for doing what they've been doing for decades, in spite of doing everything physically possible to avoid offence to the public and the real cause of them being visible is the folks building the new houses.
I spose some people might ask why anyone wants to be clothing-optional, but then some people (e.g. the Catholic church) might also ask why two people want to have sex. In the privacy of your own home, it's generally accepted that what two consenting adults get up to in bed is their own business, and also that getting up to the same thing in the middle of the town square is not acceptable. (And yes, that does include getting drunk and falling asleep. ;)
But suppose someone invented X-ray glasses and handed them out to the world. Should sex then be made illegal, because someone could look through your walls and see what you're up to? That's rather the situation that the naturists find themselves in. Like a thistle in a nudist camp, it's a prickly situation that can easily become a real pain in the arse.
(Yes, that's me checking my clothes in.)
"might be tempted to spy on White House's nude ping pong tournaments, boules court and early morning skinny dipping sessions"
They really needn't worry - I'm yet to see an attractive naturist.
Would rather spend my time ogling a modestly-clothed pretty girl than seeing all that loose flesh on display, thanks!
Sounds like the planning inspector is a bit of a perv. If he - and I assume it's a he - has okayed the planning permission then I think he should be prepared to relocate his office to the nudist club and forced to work in the raw. Let's see if those overlooking him from this new development will make him change his mind.
*Big Brother icon cos he'll be buying up one of those flats*
That's always the way it goes. The local council wants to get rid of the club, there are no legal grounds yet, but wait, if they had lots of complaints from sorrounding residents they could get rid of it, and make use of all that lovely open ground currently going to waste. But the surrounding resident can't see in, but a block of flats is ideal.
We rarely wear clothes at home unless expecting guests (it can be a bit frantic when the doorbell goes unexpectedly!). A new tower block is being built almost directly opposite us with windows facing our windows. When they are finished we will be left with the choice of putting curtains up (we never needed them before) and keeping them closed, or wearing at least some clothes all the time at home.
Everyone in the new high-rise overlooking the sun worshipper club should take up astrology.
I think I will set up a stand as soon as people move in. Come to think of it, sales might not be so great as likely the first two floors won't see much, which would reduce my potential profits by two-filths. Mmmmm
To older ex-military types Operation Tiger on Shipton Sands was one of the giant military exercises off the Devon coast in preparation for the D-Day landings of World War 2.
Years later my parents took their children camping and we used to play on the beaches as well as climb on the rocks at the east end of the Shipton Sands.
One day, I and my brothers climbed the rocks further than we had ever gone before - only to be presented by the most unusual sight of our then young lives.
The Shipton Sands Nudist Club. Right on the public beach! They were very decent about it and never complained about our sudden interest in rock climbing.
Wonder if they are still there?
Many decades ego, they built a medical-grade nuclear facility out in the bush away from Sydney. Then people built houses around it. And now you should hear them whining long and hard about how horrible it is to have a nuclear facility on their doorsteps.
I can guarentee the same will happen here.
I've just had a great Idea that will solve this problem for everyone.....
iPads! Yes - use iPads all the time while being naked - its just big enough to cover most rude downstairs lap areas! (Unless you're a lucky chap!) Not sure what ladies will need to do to cover their upper rude area - maybe two more iPads? Either way, just converting to fanboism will solve all problems!
See, it really is true that Apple products solve all known problems!
Mine's the one i'm not actually wearing.
I used to deliver milk to the White House Club. I remember it had a high wall or fence and high gates, and we used to have to ring the bell (at the gate), wait for a prescribed number of minutes, and then open the gate and drop the milk in what I presume was the kitchen. The grounds were very verdant and I seem to remember many large trees giving cover.
It would seem a shame that what to me seemed a respectable private club should have their privacy invaded by gawpers from adjacent flats. The council should be taken to task over this.
What exactly is natural about running naked outside in an English climate? Hypothermia?
And even in the warmer summers of the US mid-Atlantic states, there are all sorts of things that clothes shield one against beside prying eyes: bugs, thorns, poison ivy, ultraviolet light, to name just a few.
we did all start of naked, back at the dawn of time.
These people are screwed. As other have said, they have no 'grandfather' rights, so as soon as those flat go up and people complain - their club will be shut. Unless they get the plans changed so there are no windows facing in their direction, or they are all frosted glass.
Same thing has happened to race circuits around the UK - people move in to the area, complain about the noise, get the track closed or reduce the time available to drive.