Tag: Naked Rambler

Naked Ramblers finally arrive

The news stories give the essential details, so I won’t add much.

Get ’em on. We’ve made it [Link still valid!]

If the certainty of having your collar felt, metaphorically of course, by the local police every few days is not enough to put you off walking the length of Britain naked, then the February wind blowing off the Pentland Firth should at least be a deterrent. So, as the Naked Rambler and his girlfriend finally arrived at the northernmost tip of Scotland yesterday, their first thoughts turned to clothes.

‘Naked Rambler’ gets dressed

A man trying to walk the length of Britain wearing nothing but a hat, boots and a rucksack completed his marathon trek on Monday and celebrated by putting his clothes back.

“It’s nice to get warmed up again,” self-styled “Naked Rambler” Stephen Gough (46) told the domestic Scottish Press Association news agency from a café in John O’Groats, on the tip of the north-east Scottish mainland.

Gough and his partner, 34-year-old hairdresser Melanie Roberts, completed the last 32km of their 1 363km walk from Land’s End, south-west England in temperatures of about five degrees Celsius.

“It has been pretty cold and the locals have been coming up to us offering us whisky and all sorts,” said Gough. “They’ve been very, very friendly. We passed a school and there were even parents coming out with video cameras.”


Naked rambler completes his trek [Link still valid!]

Mr Gough and his partner Melanie Roberts, 34, from Bournemouth, reached the north coast of Caithness on Monday.

The ex-marine, who began his 874-mile trek in June, has been arrested and jailed on several occasions.

Mr Gough, from Eastleigh in Hampshire, said he wanted to challenge public attitudes to nudity. He celebrated his success by putting his clothes on.

It was a nice touch that the Guardian ran, in addition to the story, a brief — but quite favorable — opinion piece:

In praise of… the naked rambler
[Link still valid!]

However often the police may have arrested the incorrigible nudist, including twice in his final week on the road, the general public always seemed hearteningly unfazed by his presence. The nearer he got to John O’Groats, a tired but happy Mr Gough reflected yesterday, the more that local people offered greetings and whisky to him and his partner Melanie Roberts.

Oh, and just in case you’ve been living most of the last year (or more) in the Amazonian rainforest (hopefully naked) and find this story interesting but lacking in background, just go to the Naked Rambler’s web site for more information and pictures…

Originally published February 27, 2006

Steve and Melanie’s naked walk

Seems to be going extremely well. In contrast to the first walk that Steve Gough engaged in two years ago, there have been no ugly incidents of official harassment or thuggish assault.

Steve and Mel are being joined (for short periods of time) by other British naturists. Among them has been another nude-rights activist, Jeffrey Woodhouse, who has placed some of his pictures from the walk on his Web site. Note especially the picture in the middle of the page, showing Steve and Mel emerging from a store during a brief stop to purchase a few supplies. Such shopping excursions seem to have been routine and haven’t caused problems for anyone concerned. We should all be so lucky.

The rest of Jeff’s site, called Natural Freedom is well worth reading. He explains naturism and naturist activism very well, but we’ll have to leave a more complete review for another day.

Originally published July 16, 2005

Naked Rambler

Steve Gough isn’t going to be walking the 874 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats alone. One companion for sure is going to be… his girlfriend, Melanie Roberts. He seems to have been saving this for a surprise. Another friend previously reported (”the librarian”) will also be along. Anyone else who’d like to join the walk is welcome.

Walk without strides
Naked Rambler’s Girlfriend to Join Second Nude Walk
“Naked rambler” takes girlfriend on nude UK walk

It appears this event will be rather well covered by the media, at least in the UK. Steve has been giving a number of interviews to reporters, and many gathered at Land’s End to see him off. Some reporters and camera crews may even tag along.

Originally published June 17, 2005

Naked Rambler to do it again – with a librarian

Groan. Some headline writers think they’re so clever…

No. Not us here. This was from a June 12 news article from the UK.

The “naked rambler” in question here is Steve Gough, who two years ago walked the length of the UK from Land’s End to John O’Groats wearing only a hat and boots.

It was hardly a hassle-free trip, as Steve was imprisoned several times, particularly in Scotland, which seems to be the UK equivalent of the US bible belt. Steve couldn’t finish the walk until January 2004 — but he made it.

And now he’s going to do it again, starting this Thursday, June 16.

For more information and (hopefiully) to keep up with Steve’s progress, you can refer to his web site, nakedwalk.org.

Originally published June 15, 2005