Messages

1

Free Range Naturism / Re: Free Range naturism gains legal acceptance in Scottland.

« on: January 08, 2019, 08:31:50 AM »

........I have now printed out the guidelines and a number of documents that appear to clarify the position just in case the Police do intervene.

Good idea, I think I'll do likewise. My naked walking will continue unchanged. I haven't yet had an adverse reaction from anyone, nor had an encounter with the police. It'll be reassuring to have that in my rucksack though, just in case.

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Free Range Naturism / Re: One of my local walks

« on: January 08, 2019, 08:24:44 AM »

Tourists are a plague in every country.

Some tourists can be problematic of course, but I find intolerance to be a much bigger problem 

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Encounters...what to do?

« on: June 20, 2015, 09:33:10 AM »

I remember reading long ago in a book about places to get naked in the UK, that proximity to water legitimised being naked. That seems to have proven itself over the years since. It seems more acceptable to be naked near a lake, a river or on a beach and I've never had so much as an adverse comment, let alone a confrontation, when I've been skinny dipping or sitting near the water. On the few occasions I've seen other people when out walking I've mostly had no problems, but on a couple of occasions people have objected. Not really a big sample size, but that old rule has seemed to hold true.

Of course, on those couple of occasions, covering up quickly too the heat out of the situation.

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Things that try eating you when out and about

« on: June 20, 2015, 09:24:14 AM »

I'd heard about garlic as a repellant for midges (which started in May this year - really early for the eastern Scottish Highlands so a bad year is expected). If they're a tick repellant too I'll have to increase my intake, as the deer population has grown in these parts and they haven't all headed for the higher slopes for the summer in recent years (as evidenced by the damage done in my veggie patch!).

The cat's had a couple of ticks already this year, but thankfully we've avoided them so far. That may be due to the weather which hasn't often been great for getting out gardening and walking naked so far.

5

Photography / Re: What equipment do you use?

« on: January 25, 2015, 06:20:39 AM »

I finally gave in to temptation and have bought a Canon EOS6D. I'd been looking at it (yet again!) in the airport shop and came out to find my flight delayed by 2 hours. It seemed like a sign from on high and I went straight back in and bought it. What I got home I visited my local dealer and bought a 17-40 f4 lens for it as well. Haven't regretted either for a minute, and although I still have one of the EOS 350D bodies and an EOS 50 film camera, neither has seen the light of day since!

I did have some difficulty finding a bag for it though. The body is a good deal bigger than either of the old cameras and the lens is large too. After a long search, I found a Lowepro bag which will attach to my rucksack belt, or sling over my shoulder and just about has space for the camera with the 17-40 lens and a spare filter.

I'm now looking forward to warmer weather to get out an use it on some wild naked walks.

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Factory Farmed Naturism / Re: Club Visits

« on: January 25, 2015, 06:05:21 AM »

I haven't visited any of the "sun clubs" or whatever, but I've stayed in a couple of nudist venues  in the UK when I've been travelling on business. Both had limited grounds to walk in but most of the facilities were indoors. That was certainly a lot better than staying in a regular hotel, but was a far cry from the feeling of freedom I get when I'm out naked in wild places, or even just in the countryside.

I like the sound of the NEWT Karla ..... That sounds much closer to free-range than being caged!

Cheers, George

7

Trip reports / Black Isle walk

« on: July 20, 2014, 10:42:46 PM »

I took advantage of some great summer weather for a walk along the Black Isle coast (Scottish Highlands) from Rosemarkie to Cromarty. Once you're away from the crowds on the beach at Rosemarkie (mostly waiting for a sight of the dolphins), and past Caird's Cave, it's rare to see anyone along the coast as far at Eathie - a walk of about 4 miles. Eathie can be popular because of the link with Hugh Miller, one of the pioneers of Geology, who found his first fossils there. However, people tend to walk down the cliff path to it rather than along the coast. For that 4 mile stretch I was able to stow my clothes in the rucksac and enjoy the sun and the breeze to the full. Because the views are extensive along the coast in both directions, it's probably that you'll spot another walker long before they're close enough to be offended, and I was able to dress again as I approached Eathie and spotted a group scouring the beach for fossils there (a Mum and 3 daughters as it turned out, so I was glad to have seen them early and to avoid causing offence).

Thoroughly recommended, but one word of caution is needed for anyone planning to try this walk - it's not accessible at high tide. The best plan is to set out from Rosemarkie about an hour after high tide so you'll have plenty of time to walk through to Eathie and the path up the cliff for the bus back from Cromarty, or make the return along the coast to Rosemarkie.

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Trip reports / Re: Just a short trip - first of the year

« on: June 08, 2014, 08:02:09 AM »

It's mostly heather here, with a few juniper and gorse bushes and a very occasional Rowan or birch tree. The soil is peat, so very acidic, and that limits what will survive on the moor.

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Trip reports / Just a short trip - first of the year

« on: May 30, 2014, 08:20:39 AM »

This wasn't really a trip as such, but we did enjoy a first naked walk of the year, albeit a short one, last week. Driving from Mallaig on the west cost of the Scottish Highlands, to Perth on the south-east edge of the Highlands, we'd chosen the route through Glencoe and across Rannoch Moor - a horrible road to drive but some of the best scenery Scotland has to offer. Coming out of the top of Glencoe and starting to cross Rannoch Moor, we pulled over to enjoy the wildness of it before it becomes too busy with tourists later in the season. You don't have to go far from the road to get the wild feeling here, with such a wide open landscape fringed by mountains, including one of my favourites, Buachaiile Etive Mor - one of the most-photgraphed mountains in Scotland. hHat a pleasure to be naked in such a beautiful, elemental landscape!

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Naked Trigpointing

« on: March 29, 2014, 09:14:36 AM »

Thanks Stuart. I'll treat the info in that file with some caution as it includes at least one trig point which I know was removed back in the 1990's (Pan-y-Fan, SO 01209 21583). I'm guessing it's based on original data from the Ordnance Survey which would have been compiled before they started to remove the pillars.

One way to check the presence of a pillar included in the Google Earth file would be to view the current OS map. That can be done on the Streetmap.co.uk website. Here's their map for Pan-y-Fan which has no trig point marked :
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=301500&y=221500&z=120&sv=pen-y-fan&st=3&tl=Map+of+Pen+y+Fan,+Powys+&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf


Cheers, George

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Naked Trigpointing

« on: March 23, 2014, 11:03:55 PM »

Some years ago, maybe 20 or more, the Ordnance Survey started desmantling the trig points (they've not been needed for surveying for a good long time with aerial photography and sattellite imaging). One of my favourites, on top of Pen-y-Fan in South Wales, was an early victim and I mourn it's loss whenever I walk the Brecon Beacons ridge. Fortunately, they listened to the clamour of dismay from walkers and stopped the programme, and instead sought people to adopt them. Not sure what happened thereafter, but they're still a feature of the UK landscape thank goodness.

I like the idea of a moonlit pose by the trig point on Arthur's Seat some time, and I'll hope to acquaint myself with a few more naked concrete pillars this summer.

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Urinating while naked in free range areas

« on: March 14, 2014, 07:33:49 AM »

"I have always taken the position that if needed, water a plant.".........that's not neceassarily such a great idea. Urine has a lot of nitrogen in it. Whilst that can be helpful to plant nutrition, many (most) plants can't tolerate the high concentrations found in human urine.

There's been an interesting discussion thread in a gardening programme i listen to on the radio about peeing on the weeds in your grass to kill them off. Most weeds die if they're peed on often, but grass thrives on it.

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Naked cycling

« on: March 14, 2014, 07:29:20 AM »

I guess this is taking us a long way from naked cycling, but I'll often go out walking in the winter with just hat, gloves, boots and socks on. I find that if my head, hands and feet are kept warm, the rest of me is able to adjust well to the ambient temperature, even on a windy day.

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Free Range Naturism / Re: Things that try eating you when out and about

« on: February 16, 2014, 09:22:23 AM »

True enough Peter, there are lots of midge repellants on sale and most have no effect at all. Maybe rather than researching new repellants we should start literacy classes for midges?

One thing I know which does work is smoke. When I first visited Scotland I was a smoker and was very popular whenever I lit up!

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Photography / Re: What equipment do you use?

« on: January 23, 2014, 05:42:44 AM »

I'm feeling myself pulled towards every photographic shop I pass these days, specifically towards the DSLR displays. I'm finding the half-frame metering of my EOS 350D to be limiting and I'm tempted by the full-frame Canons. Can't afford the latest 5D models but I'm looking at a 6D body. It's only a matter of time before the temptation overcomes my prudence!