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  • Guest
    We are pleased to (tentatively) announce a naturist evening at Houghton Lodge on Thursday 23 July 
    Houghton Lodge Gardens is a glorious privately-owned property about 2.5 miles from Stockbridge in Hampshire.  The gardens have a wide variety of habitats including a traditional walled garden, with herb patches, fruit trees and flowers, a beautifully manicured lawn leading from the house down to the stunning river Test, a field containing alpacas (and now also sheep) and all available (but not the house) to BN members and other naturists throughout the evening.  There is also a small greenhouse of orchids and there is often art for sale on the orangery walls.  
    Of course, there are also the tea rooms, which remain open throughout our evening.
    The gardens will remain open to the non-naturist public until 5pm and once the last of the day visitors have left then the site re-opens for naturists, usually about 5:30 p.m.  The owner is always very welcoming and the teas, coffees and (especially!) the cakes are a particular highlight of the evening.
    It is definitely worth the visit if you live in the local area or want to include the gardens as part of a longer day trip. If you are coming from further afield there are some holiday lets on site which can be rented for the night. These can be arranged directly with the owner via applerooms@houghtonlodge.co.uk. - subject of course to the latest CV19 restrictions of course!
    BN members and other naturists have been visiting this site every year since 2016 and have always been blessed with glorious weather.  Although the date of 23 July has been scheduled for some time, this year has thrown up some special challenges and the owner has agreed to rearrange to later in the summer if CV19 restrictions mean than we cannot go ahead on this planned date. The owner loves having us there and tells us that she always looks forward to our visits.
    So why not give it a try this year? All you have to do is turn up, pay the entry, strip off and enjoy!
    More information about the gardens is on www.houghtonlodge.co.uk
  • Guest

    The Great British Take Off

    By Guest, in Eastern,

    This Saturday is the start of The Great British Take off. There are several events planned. The cost is only £3 which will be going as a donation to the British Heart Foundation.
    The events are: here
    Personally I have booked a place for Saturday mornings fitness class. At 10am. Should be fun and tiring🤣🤣
    Its still not to late to take part in the events, so I urge everyone in the eastern region to take part in some way and support the charity too. I hope to see our region members on Saturday via Zoom.
    You may like to have Pimms on the lawn. Its up to you which event you choose so lets get naked and help the British Heart Foundation and spend zoom time with our fellow naturists..
    Looking forward to seeing everyone.
    Andy
     
     
     
  • Guest

    Events updates in the South West

    By Guest, in South West,

    We are all very aware of the restrictions in place because of the Coronavirus, but with the Government indicating some easing of restrictions in the weeks to come, I thought it would be useful to publish an update of events planned and cancelled in the region to the end of June.
    Abbey House Gardens Day in May is cancelled with the June date likely to also be cancelled, keep up to date on the SW Events page. Studland Beach Days in May and June are cancelled. SW Rally at Lower Poulza Post, Cornwall in June is cancelled. SW Skinny Dip for MIND at Bude shows this is cancelled on their website. All Leisure Centres are closed and all swims cancelled, but the Government has indicated Leisure Centres may reopen in July, so look for up dates on the SW Events page. Event organisers are asked to post updates of cancellations or rearrangements of events on the Events page where possible.
    Finally, some good news!  Many I know are enjoying the excellent BN online events that appear almost daily and some clubs have held their own naked dinning evenings.  Here is Torbay enjoying an evening socialising on Zoom (All permissions granted)

    Keep well, Keep safe, Keep naked.
    Graham Holland
    SW Secretary
     
  • Guest

    Soaring Solway Sun Club

    By Guest, in North West,

    Forward with the Solway Sun Club.
    Super Solway Sun Club is a shining example of how an ‘off grid’, landed club can operate without a problem and actually thrive and move forward due to the intelligent usage of efficient solar energy. Most caravan and chalet owners have installed solar technology and often forget they are actually ‘off grid’! It’s even possible to watch TV, if that’s your preference, but the norm at Solway is to socialise clothes free. There is no better place to be at one with nature and walking around the orbital nature trail naked is a stunning experience!
    This beautiful club, close to Carlisle and only a few miles from the M6 motorway, with its marvellous topography, is situated approximately 90 minutes from Glasgow and Preston – Newcastle being just an hour’s drive away. Solway attracts members from all these areas and far beyond, providing a variety of local accents and traditions which always fascinated us when we were members there. The club provides a great stopping off point for Naturists travelling further afield, Solway also attracts many touring Naturist campers from the Continent. Membership of British Naturism is compulsory for members, but not for visitors. Check out their new website.
    Looking ahead to the coming months, their young, go-ahead committee have huge plans to improve facilities by looking at a complete refurbishment of the facilities block. Also, tests will be underway soon on a new system to heat the fabulous outdoor pool and due to the improvements in the efficiency  and affordability of solar energy, it is expected that the temperature of the pool can be raised by as much as 7 or 8 degrees on a sunny summer’s day.
    Visitors are welcome during the season and Solway can accommodate such visitors in their 2 club caravans (bookable in advance) – day visits and overnight visits can be booked online (post Covid 19). Visits with tents or small camper vans are possible but, unfortunately, touring caravans are not permitted due to site licence restrictions. There is a sauna, a fully equipped kitchen and a clubhouse with a log burner installed for those perfect Naturist evenings, alternating between the sauna and the clubhouse. The club is also dog friendly and just 15 miles from Cumbria’s only monthly Great British Skinny Dip venue - the Wigton Pool.
    The annual club birthday weekend this year will be their 65th and is planned to take place on the Bank holiday weekend in August, Covid-19 permitting. Elizabeth and I are still hopeful of enjoying a weekend up there in the late summer or next summer, collaborating with the committee to create a super GBSD event and enjoying the gorgeous evening walks along picturesque country lanes totally devoid of traffic.
    The wildlife surrounding and embracing this stunningly scenic part of the most delightful county in England, is unbelievable. Red deer can often be seen in adjacent fields, red squirrels are prevalent and bird watching becomes a favoured pastime for many visitors,  with buzzards and kestrels commonplace. I hope you can find the time to experience this fabulous ‘back to nature’ club with the English lakes and Hadrian’s wall  right on the doorstep’.
    Ron O’Hare (NW Organiser/Chair/PRO).
     

     
     
     
  • Guest

    Looking beyond COVID-19

    By Guest, in North West,

    Looking beyond COVID 19…
    It’s certainly difficult to predict how long it will be before we can return to enjoying our Naturist lifestyle to the full extent again but what exactly will have changed? We all enjoy flying to a warmer climate and sunbathing naked but will the appetite be there to board an aircraft or book a cruise so readily in the foreseeable future? This is probably doubtful - or at best, debatable.
    The majority of people I speak to say they would be very reluctant to simply return to booking foreign holidays immediately, sitting shoulder to shoulder with fellow travellers, so will our British based events, clubs and swims profit from this? I believe that is entirely in our hands, but as a former club membership secretary, I am fully aware that the window of recruitment for clubs is a limited one, from around April to August for most landed clubs unless they have an indoor pool of course. So for most of these clubs to take advantage of this obviously depends on how long this ‘lock down’ situation continues… 
    The many Naturist swim locations across Britain could benefit from increased attendances all year round and the GBSD campaign could expand exponentially with increased promoting. Online events have already become popular and they will no doubt be here to stay. We have already seen a welcome increase in BN member numbers, but considering there are around four million Naturists in the UK and there are less than nine thousand members within BN, then we  obviously have a massive opportunity to expand long term -  post ‘lockdown’. This NW webpage contains a list of all the north west clubs, swims and events.  
    Looking further forward, there will certainly be many opportunities for both clubs and swims to capitalise on this unique opportunity to recruit by taking advantage of their club’s BN membership and using the free magazine space and webpages - utilising online articles that are widely available for clubs and swims. Your regional co-ordinator’s contact address is displayed in the BN magazine. The clubs with the closer connections to British Naturism will obviously be in an advantageous position, ready for the influx of visitors, should they arrive! 
    Clubs
    New initiatives and promotions can be utilised, such as 'club open days’ and clubs could attempt to redress the gender balance by engaging in the ‘Women in Naturism’ campaign, such as promoting a ‘women visit free’ month during the quieter periods. ‘Solos’ weekends’ are always well attended and ‘Families’ weekends’ can also be popular - The latter went well when I trialled them. If you wish to write an article about your club, just send it to me and I will insert it into the north west webpages or this north west newsfeed page. 
    Swims
    Swim venues could throw open their doors wider by adopting the same procedures that Team GBSD are currently operating, such as ‘Just turn up with I.D. on the day’ or the ‘Ladies visit for free’ initiative which we have recently trialled successfully at some GBSD events as part of our ‘Women in Naturism’ campaign. For swims and beach events which include the annual Morfa Dyffryn GBSD skinny dip, (now rescheduled for September 5th), there are many positives that can be taken from a situation that British based Naturists are wanting to stay closer to home, eager to enjoy Naturism in beautiful Britain! 
    Ron O’Hare (North West News).
    mailto: nwnewsletter@bn.org.uk

     
  • Guest

    Dine Naked Oxford Virtual Dining

    By Guest, in Eastern,

    Hi Everyone
    I am pleased to be able to promote an event to you that is going ahead. 
    From  Dine Naked Oxford Sandra and Mupp, are hosting a virtual meal experience. 
    The meal will be Spaghetti Bolognese. You can cook it authentically yourself, buy one, or Nuke a Spag bog in the microwave. 
    The meal will be followed by Mupps (Mike's) interactive Quiz. All achieved via video link.
    The evening will be great for couples, or whole families, or for singles, in fact everyone. With fun good food and an outbreak of enjoyment followed by a helping of naked diners. 
    Here are the details fron Sandra;
    You may want to brush up on your Italian!!
    Andy
     
  • Guest
    Hi Everyone
    John Gelder our Eastern Walks Coordinator would like to inform  those of you keen on walking that as a result of Government restrictions being extended for potentially another four weeks; two of our regional walks have been affected;
     
    Firstly; The  Tring walk on Friday 24th April has now been  CANCELLED.
     
    Secondly; The  Aston Abbots Walk on Friday 15th May has now been CANCELLED.
     
    John will be monitoring the situation, following Government advice and instructions.
    Once the Lockdown has been lifted some walks may be able to be rescheduled. John will keep those of you on the mailing list informed  as to the status of the Walks.
    In the meantime, it may be worth polishing your walking boots ready to go;
    Andy
     
  • Guest

    EASTERN AGM VOTING RESULTS

    By Guest, in Eastern,

    Yesterday as you know we held our regional Email based voting of the AGM.  Here are the results below:
    AGM VOTING
    RESULTS 2020
     
    AGENDA ITEM 1:    TO ADOPT THE MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING;
    FOR  25
    AGAINST  0
    ABSTAIN  2
    PASSED
     
     
    AGENDA ITEM 4.1:            TO ELECT ROBERT FINNEY AS CHAIRMAN FOR 3 YEARS;
    FOR  27
    AGAINST  0
    ABSTAIN  0
    ELECTED
     
     
    AGENDA ITEM 4.2:                        TO ELECT IAN BEEBY AS VICE-CHAIRMAN FOR 1 YEAR;
    FOR  26
    AGAINST  0
    ABSTAIN  1
    ELECTED
     
     
    AGENDA ITEM 4.3:                        TO ELECT MARTIN DENCH AS SPORTS OFFICER FOR 1 YEAR;
    FOR  24
    AGAINST  1
    ABSTAIN  1
    ELECTED
     
     
    AGENDA ITEM 4.4:                        TO ELECT ANDREW GILMOUR AS PRO FOR 1 YEAR;
    FOR  27
    AGAINST  0
    ABSTAIN  0
    ELECTED
     
    NOTES;
    All voting was completed electronically.
    8 Clubs voted.
    19 Individual members voted
    A Quorum was achieved
     
     
     
     
     
     
  • Guest

    MUSEUM VISIT TO BE REARRANGED

    By Guest, in Eastern,

    The Visit to the Museum located in Milton Keynes has been cancelled for now. However; the good news is that once the museum is able to open again, the visit to the Museum will be Rearranged.
    Andy
  • Guest

    Carry on campaigning

    By Guest, in North West,

    We have all been rocked back on our heels recently due to COVID 19 and no one has escaped the effects of this virus, whether it be self isolation, the scampering around for basic items at the supermarkets or more seriously the affects of the illness itself - we are all affected in some way. Social distancing has become the norm and as a result the BN events and campaigns have suffered mind boggling setbacks, but our health takes priority. There has been a tremendous amount of work performed during the winter months in order to accommodate a great season of events and no one has been busier than our events chief Mark Walsh. He is dealing with this superbly by updating us on this new page on the website. The campaigns Task Force have also been busy creating and promoting and are now also adversely affected, with GBSD being the worst affected campaign, with many events being put on hold for who knows how long? 
     
               Positives
    On the positive side, the news that BN have acquired the grounds of the Sunfolk club on the outskirts of the capital and intend to create a gold standard venue, is a fabulous initiative and certainly a positive asset for the future of Naturism. Read more from BN president Mark Bass.  Our Women in Naturism Co-ordinator Donna Price is back home after a long holiday in Australia and we all look forward to her resuming her work with more positive input into the campaign by creating more articles for general press releases and of course the BN magazine.  The Just One Person campaign is continuing via phone calls, text messaging, social media and emailing Read all about it on the BN member's forum . Have you told anyone recently about your privileged Naturist lifestyle? Carry on campaigning.  #NormalisingNaturism. The North West region now have their own news pages within the main BN website view here, for fast flowing news updates of events, clubs and swims including naked walking etc. This can also be replicated by other regions - the tools are there and assistance readily available.             Stay safe - and hopefully we will be back to full steam ahead before too long.
              ron.ohare@bn.org.uk
             
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