Naturist Beaches in The United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Brighton. Dukes Mound, Madeira Drive. The Naturist section of the beach is protected by an artificial bank of shingle.

In the United Kingdom, the first nudist club was established in Wickford, Essex in 1924. According to Michael Farrar, writing for British Naturism the club adopted the name "Moonella Group" from the name of the owner of the ground, Moonella, and called its site The Camp. Moonella, who was still living in 1965 but whose identity remains to be discovered, had inherited a house with land in 1923 and made it available to certain members of the New Gymnosophy Society. This society had been founded a few years before by H.C. Booth, M.H. Sorensen and Rex Wellbye under the name of the English Gymnosophical Society. It met for discussions at the Minerva Cafe at 144 High Holborn in London, the headquarters of the Women's Freedom League. Those who were permitted to join the Moonella Group were carefully selected, and the club was run by an "aristocracy" of the original members, all of whom had "club names" to preserve their anonymity. The club closed in 1926 because of building on adjacent land.^[46]^[47]

By 1943 there were a number of these so-called "sun clubs" and together they formed the British Sunbathers Association or BSBA. In 1954 a group of clubs unhappy with the way the BSBA was being run split off to form the Federation of British Sun Clubs or FBSC. These two organisations rivalled each other for a while before eventually coming together again in 1964 as the Central Council for British Naturism or CCBN. This organisation has remained much the same but is now more commonly known simply as British Naturism or BN.

In 1961, the BSBA Annual Conference agreed that the term nudist was inappropriate and should be discarded in favour of naturist.

The first official naturist beach was opened at Fairlight Glen in Covehurst Bay near Hastings in 1978 (not to be confused with Fairlight Cove, which is 2 km to the east) followed later by the beaches at Brighton and Fraisthorpe. Bridlington opened in April 1980.

Coast: Features

Making the most of an English summer

Norfolk naturism tops new guide

Norfolk has scored a double whammy to claim a dual top five rating for its naturist beaches and resorts in the Bare Britain Guide 2005.

Norfolk has always been a popular destination for tourists. Each year, thousands of visitors come flocking to the county's many seaside resorts and beautiful coastline.

No stranger to winning awards for the quality of its beaches, the county is now recommended as one of the top places to visit for naturists.

Bare Britain, a guide to the UK's best naturist resorts and beaches, highlights the Broadlands resort near Norwich as one of the top five resorts for naturists to visit, with the sands at Holkham rated in the top five beaches featured in the guide.

Idyllic locations

Author Nick Mayhew said he wanted to highlight Britain's many "idyllic" nudist locations.

"We've about 50 naturists beaches in the UK and more than 100 clubs featured in the book - so a good number of places. We produced a top five list for each and Norfolk gets one in each," he said.

Naturism on Corton Beach near Great Yarmouth

Naturism on the east coast

"East Anglia is a good holiday spot and there's an awful lot of people who like to base their holiday around a naturist beach, so Norfolk does well in attracting those visitors.

"The beach at Holkham is just such a beautiful place and Broadland has been voted repeatedly by naturists as a very nice place to go.

"With so many beautiful beaches around our coastline as well as friendly clubs in great locations around the country, we hope this guide will inspire many more Britons to give bare bathing a go," he said.

Ivan Page of the Broadlands Sun Association is delighted to be mentioned in the guide.

"We're very pleased. I think we've done so well because we've really built up a reputation for welcoming people and have hosted a number of international naturism events over the years," he said.

"We've invested in the site to create lots of excellent facilities for our members. It's a lot hard of work, but pays off when we achieve recognition like this," he added.

Naked on the coast

Richard Collins has been a naturist for more than 20 years and can't get enough of the Norfolk coast.

"It's a fantastic expanse of soft sand and you're free to walk for miles along the coast there. My family have grown up with naturism and they love it there. I like to enjoy the sunshine and the freedom to sunbathe without a costume," he said.

"When the tide goes out at Holkham you've got such a wonderful expanse of sand to enjoy. In the summer you can get more than 200 naturists on the beach.

"I've been on many different beaches, not just the naturist ones. Nudism in the UK isn't illegal, so by rights you can sunbathe nude on any beach.

A naturist beach doesn't have any different legal sanction, it's just normally an area that is recognised by a long-standing tradition as a place used by naturists," he added.

Freedom to beat the stresses of life

Commercial manager for British Naturism Andrew Welch said being naked in the open air was a "great antidote" to the stresses of everyday life.

"Many of Britain's beaches rival those on the continent and are perfect for baring all. Hopefully we will have a lovely warm summer so we can make the most of what Britain has to offer," he said.

In addition to Holkham beach and the Broadlands club, naturists can also enjoy sunbathing au naturel at Corton Beach between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

The Bare Beach guide is due to be launched on 5 June, 2005 - World Naturist Day.

Morfa Dyffryn, North Wales, UK

Considered the best n-u-d-e beach in the UK by many, Morfa Dyffryn is situated on the Welsh coast between Barmouth and Harlech. On warm summer days, up to 500 nat*rists enjoy the fine sand and clear water of this beautiful mile-long beach, which never seems crowded due to its size. Visitors include families, singles and couples, although the northern part of the beach is mostly frequented by a gay crowd. The good news is that Morfa Dyffryn is large enough to give all types of nude sunbathers enough breathing space.

Studland Beach – Dorset

If you’re into the whole “au naturale” thing, then Dorset’s Studland Beach is where it’s at. Three miles of sand stretch from South Haven to Handfast Point. The nudist part of the beach is in Shell Bay. Just behind is a nature reserve, rich in rare birds and other wildlife. Bring the whole family for a barbecue, take to the nature trails or work on getting rid of those tan lines.

Naturist Beaches in The United Kingdom.

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Coast: Features

Norfolk naturism tops new guide

Studland Beach – Dorset