It’s St Georges day (23rd April) and in the past week England has been having its warmest week of weather of 2013.So far this year the weather has been how shall we say “truly changeable” going from warm and bright to wet and overcast in a matter of minutes. It’s been cold we’ve had snow, hail and thick frost. Maybe it’s just Mother Nature getting back on track,hopefully allowing us to have a summer that is a summer hot dry and very very long. For the most fervent of naturists,this year has been trying and while indoor naturism is relaxing, it’s not quite as nice as the outdoor kind.
Last weekend we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the woods and through fields, then today we tripped out to a lovely spot by the River Ter. Once off the road and onto the footpaths we trooped through the countryside until we felt we were far enough into the deep countryside that the clothes could come off. It was around 6 o’clock in the evening and the sun was still shining brightly, with not a cloud to be seen anywhere. After going on many naturist walks, I decided that it would be nice to capture both of us in the photos, so I decided to take my collapsible tripod. Like a fool I forgot to take the camera mount with us, but even so I managed to balance the camera on the tripod and shoot with the timer.
Some of the photos turned out really well although in a few I had trouble keeping the tripod shadow out of the shots. We walked past a church, up a hill, passed by a wooded copse, before ending up by the river, which really was more of a stream, than a raging river. We do walk quite a lot so you get a love of the countryside and for me, I especially like rivers. Unfortunately because of miss management by the government, councils and water authorities, a lot of rivers and streams are allowed to silt up. Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through drainage, from surface runoff and other sources such as groundwater recharge and springs however a lot of the time ditches draining the fields is allowed to clog up with leaves bushes or rubbish.
Where it does happen river management is a continuous activity as rivers tend to ‘undo’ the modifications made by people. Dredged channels silt up, sluice mechanisms deteriorate with age, levees and dams may suffer seepage or catastrophic failure. The benefits sought through managing rivers may often be offset by the social and economic costs of mitigating the bad effects of such management. As an example, in parts of the developed world, rivers have been confined within channels to free up flat flood-plain land for development. Floods can inundate such development at high financial cost and often with loss of life. The worst places where river clog up is the cities where people illegally fly tip rubbing into the rivers. This almost turned rivers and canals in London into stagnant open sewers but slowly a lot of these places are being cleared and being restored to their former glory.
Many people enjoy walking naked in the countryside although we’ve yet to see anyone, it’s just a shame that it’s not more widely accepted and seen as something that’s pleasant and relaxing. Most naked walkers report friendly reactions from people they meet, however the risk of being arrested on a public indecency charge is present when walking in the nude. Some jurisdictions have regulations formally prohibiting this activity, and can impose fines or other punishments. Local bylaws to this effect have been adopted, on many occasions to keep people in their clothes. Unfortunately, these days people see it as naughty, sexual or something perverted,which it’s definitely not, it’s just something that free and relaxing especially on a hot day. After a time and a frequent attacks and bites from the midges (insects) we decided it was time to go for some food and headed back to the car. We drove around and eventually after many miles of country roads found a place called Shalford, where we both enjoyed a curry, a pint and a dessert with too much cream….oh well, maybe that was the reward as we did do some walking too.
(Photos taken on these walks can be seen in my Countryside album)
