Some interesting thoughts and a good read I found on the net:
Memories of Britain's first nudist beach in Brighton 45 years on and how attitudes have changed
Britain's first nudist beach opened on Brighton's seafront in April 1980 amid much controversy after a campaign led by Tory councillor Eileen Jakes
By Matt Roper, 4 Apr 2024
It was not exactly what the TV crews, newspaper reporters and dozens of onlookers had in mind as they waited on Brighton seafront for the opening of Britain’s first nudist beach.
As the countdown began to the new dawn of UK naturism, heads strained and cameras got into position to see who would make history by baring all. At 7.30am on the cold and wet morning of April 2, 1980, Arthur Albrow, 61, took off his long johns and trudged naked across the shingly beach, letting out a gasp as he entered the icy sea.
The moment was underwhelming but a victorious end to the long fight for the right to be naked in public. Today, seven million people visit the UK’s dozens of public nudist sites.
But when councillors voted to allow the first nudist beach, 45 years ago, the decision was met with controversy The council vote was passed in August 1979, thanks to Tory councillor Eileen Jakes, 47, who handed around photographs of herself bathing topless in Ibiza. “I came into the world with nothing on and I will go out with nothing on. Why should I be ashamed of nudity?”, the grandmother said.
She responded to a call by the Central Council for British Naturism, which petitioned 140 local authorities for a nudist beach. As landlady of a beachfront pub, she argued having a beach in Britain for nude bathers...
