UK Naked rambler's case dropped

[Gary Naturist]

Excerpt from a CNN report on June 26:

"LONDON, England -- A naked rambler arrested at the start of a trek from Lands End in England walked free from court after it was decided he did not commit a criminal offence.

"Naturalist [sic] Steve Gough was arrested last week -- while being interviewed by a television crew -- as he began his walk from the southern peninsula of England to John O' Groats, the northern tip of Scotland in the nude.

"The 44-year-old had planned to undertake the 847-mile expedition dressed only in hat, socks, boots and a rucksack to highlight his campaign for a change in nudity laws.

"... prosecutor Simon Jones asked for the case to be withdrawn on Thursday as Gough had not committed a criminal offence."

Way to go, Steve! Another gain for nudism.

Gary

Way to go, Steve! Another gain for nudism.

Gary [/QB][/QUOTE]

Gary . I'm not sure I'd be celebrating this if I were a naturist, for a number of reasons. Firstly, if you ever heard Steve Gough being interviewed, he seems pretty contemptuous of naturists and is very keen to distance himself from naturism generally. Secondly, those of us who know about English law could have predicted that the rather inept rural police in Cornwall wouldn't have a clue how to deal with Mr Gough. They are more used to dealing with sheep rustlers and lost tourists, and consequently was arrested for the wrong offence. When this man was arrested in his home town of Eastleigh in Hampshire, the police had sought the advice of Crown Prosecutors and charged him with the RIGHT offence and laid the RIGHT evidence before the bench. Consequently he was convicted. He still has a very long way to go. The Avon and Somerset Police will be expecting him entering their area and I know they will be better briefed. It will be interesting to see how far he gets before he finds himself a guest in one of Her Majesty's prisons. I would be surprised if he gets beyond Bristol.

I hoped you and the other genuine and reasonable naturists on this board would deplore this offensive character rather that praise his silly crusade.

Stu

[Naturist Mark]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by stu2630:

I hoped you and the other genuine and reasonable naturists on this board would deplore this offensive character rather that praise his silly crusade.

Stu <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Perhaps so, but some of us rather suspect that after all the hullabaloo, time, ink, and official resources wasted on persecuting the guy a few people will realize how silly the whole affair is.

That the sight of a naked person does not cause anyone any harm. The only harm is being caused by the overreactions.

I believe Mr. Gough's beef with British Naturism is due in part to their willingness to be ghettoized- set apart so as to prevent decent folk from having to witness their wickedness.

Perhaps it would make more sense to let sensible free people do as they wish so long as they don't harm others. Let the prudes hide themselves away in "Colonies for the Easily Offended".

-Mark

[Trailscout]

I think the Naked Rambler will be primarily seen as a solitary eccentric and while I hope that he will be the trailscout for thousands of nude hikers roaming the hills of Britain, I think the best way we can educate people in the UK and elsewhere would be do have droves of well-behaved people showing up nude a specific beach every day for a week, perhaps have two or three hundred campers constantly nude at Dartmoor National Park for a weekend. Let's have young, old, families, singles in the greatest numbers we can muster at one spot.

I would think that bystanders would be inspired by the happy nude crowd and go nude themselves.

Before long, new beaches and parks would become nude by precedent.

[Bob S.]

OK, here's to hoping that this can be a short topic.

First, Steve is crazy. He is going to try to walk the whole 847 mi (dang, if I only knew the conversion to metric)!? How long will that take? Won't it get too cold for him by the time he hits North Scotland?

Personally, I find it interesting that he dissociates himself from the cause of naturism as it gives naturists the leeway to both distance themselves from him while cheering him on at the same time.

stu, I love you just how you are. Don't ever change! /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Bob S.

[Gary Naturist]

Trailscout: I had an idea when reading your post. What would help the cause of nudism a lot is if nudists would organize lots of fun/interesting events for kids and adults alike at their local clothing-optional beaches. This might well attract people who are open-minded to nudity but are really more motivated by the fact that going to the clothing-optional beach is more enjoyable than going to their regular textile beach.

Gary

[Trailscout]

Gary, You are right on target.

Beaches where there is a tradition of nude use are the most accessible of all clothing-optional venues to non-nudists.

Can you imagine this:
It's a warm summer weekend somewhere on the North American continent. All day long unsuspecting and curious swimsuit clad bathers stroll right into the nude section to see hordes of people playing volleyball, frisbee, digging sand castles, playing music, laughing and having a real beach party and they all happen to be naked but none of them seem to be the slightest bit aware of the fact that they are naked.
A few of the boldest ones drop their bikinis and boxer trunks in the sand right then and there and join in the fun. Others make a resolution to try it eventually. Some aren't sure yet, and don't undress, but they see people having so much fun that they can't help but stay. We'll get them on our side in due time. There may be a few others who say to themselves, "That's not for me, but this nude beach is fun and innocent, nothing like the drunken orgy I imagined". We will make admirers from even die-hard textiles.

These nude events will seem spontaneous and to a certain extent they will be, but there will also have to be networking to bring the crowds, a few leaders making plans and lots of eyes and ears to keep things safe and orderly.

Bob,

"stu, I love you just how you are. Don't ever change!"

Gee, thanks. There's not much chance of me changing - at least not so long as they keep giving me these hormone injections!

Trailscout,

Your paradigm of a summer's afternoon is great. Consenting people being happy among naturists and many trying it out for themselves and taking part. I have absolutely no problem with that, although I'm not sure it's going to occur very often. Most of us non-naturists just wouldn't do that. My beef is when people who aren't consenting to being exposed to nudity are forced to encounter it in the streets they must pass along. That's what Mr Gough is doing, and why I would support his arrest and ultimate imprisonment. Most of the people here wouldn't behave in that way. Please don't support him.

Just for information - and completely off topic - I will be going into hospital eary Friday morning for a fairly big knee operation (ACL and PCL reconstruction and meniscal cartlidge repair). I am scheduled to stay in for 3 days but I have decided to self-discharge as soon as I wake up from the anaesthetic (I hate hospitals!). Had I not agreed to stay they would have refused to do the surgery. Anyway, wish me luck and, as Arnold Schwartzenegger says, "I'll be back!"

Stu

[Trailscout]

Bob,
If hardy Scotsmen of yore could stride the highlands wearing nothing under their drafty kilts, perhaps barring a cold soaker of a rainstorm, this fellow could march nude to John O'Groats. There are a few days in Cornwall when the weather is too warm for clothes. As he progresses north, he will be in the rain shadow of the mountains of Wales and hopefully in optimal conditions for nudity. If he avoids the rainy west coast and the chilly Highlands, he could avoid the most uncomfortable places to be nude. When I hiked a segment of the North Carolina part of the Appalachian Trail I wore nothing but a pair of nylon loose fitting shorts and a poncho over that when it rained. My exertions kept me warm. When I stopped for the night, I toweled off the rain and sweat, put on a watch cap if need be and crawled nude into my sleeping bag. One night my bag got very damp from the rain and lost some of its insulating power. My last resort was to make a huge bowl of mashed potatoes with beef jerky bits and English peas. That stoked my furnace and my body heat dried the sleeping bag out in a couple of hours. I slept like a baby.

[David77]

Stu (2630),
I wish you very good luck and a full and speedy recovery from your knee operation.

Please, Stu, don't discharged yourself from the hospital before the doctors think it safe and advisable, as it may cause serious consequences to your health.

I am sending you a personal message today.

[luvnaturism]

Stu ? I agree. Best wishes to you on your surgery. Hopefully after all is said and done, you'll be back in much better shape.

But I would add my word of encouragement that you not practice medicine without a license, and instead allow your doctors to make the decision on when you should leave the hospital.

[Naturist Mark]

Stu, best wishes on a successful operation and speedy recovery.

I'd like to buck the trend and encourage you to go home as soon as practical. Hospitals are great places to have necessary medical procedures done, but are lousy places to get well. So long as you don't require expert care go home and get well.

And should pigs ever fly and you visit a nudist resort you'll have some nifty scars to show off. /infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif

-Mark