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Making a case and place for naturism
• THANK you for highlighting my petition (Division at the Heath Men’s Pond: is it an unnatural situation? Forum, September 11), the debate is welcome!
I respect Robert Sutherland Smith’s opinion but must address some quite erroneous comments:
1) Since I started the petition in May there have been quite a number of theories on why the partition was put up. No doubt many are based on mythology, including Robert’s, but the majority informed me about the barrister. Of course, if Robert has documentary evidence to back up his allegation then please post it here!
2) The comment about the clothed area on hot days being “uncomfortably full” does not reflect reality! My response is based on facts. On previous petition days I have noted occupancy of the areas:
| Date |
Time |
Nude |
Clothed |
| May 5 |
13.40 |
34 |
8 |
| Jun 6 |
13.20 |
21 |
8 |
| Jun 6 |
14.00 |
29 |
18 |
| Jun 9 |
16.25 |
21 |
8 |
| Jun 15 |
14.15 |
11 |
3 |
| Jun 15 |
16.30 |
19 |
12 |
| Jul 13 |
12.45 |
23 |
7 |
| Jul 22 |
12.50 |
17 |
7 |
| Jul 22 |
14.40 |
29 |
9 |
| Jul 24 |
14.30 |
33 |
23 |
| Jul 24 |
16.30 |
37 |
18 |
| Jul 26 |
12.25 |
26 |
7 |
| Jul 28 |
12.30 |
26 |
20 |
| Jul 28 |
14.50 |
33 |
17 |
| Jul 30 |
13.00 |
26 |
6 |
So where is your evidence Robert?
3) “Clothed and naked enclosures are about the same size.” Excuse me! I have taken detailed measurements of both areas and can confirm that the naked area is 97sq m and the clothed area is 170sq m. Your response Robert?
4) “Mr Peacock speaks selfishly for a clubbish, minority interest, not an open, majority one.” I did not use the word clubbish; the reporter posed this as a question. How can my petition be regarded as speaking for a minority interest? This is an absurd allegation.
5) “The enclosure given to men for lying naked together beneath the sun now lacks capacity, so why not take all or part of the separate enclosure traditionally occupied by changing swimmers, shuttlecock players and non-naturist sunbathers in swimming togs and give it over to Mr Peacock’s sun-loving naturists?”
Absolutely, I couldn’t agree more. However, I am a realist and although would welcome reverting the entire enclosure back to nude sunbathing, I wanted to consider those who did not wish to see naked men. What I have proposed is not “blue sky”, as many wish for, but quite modest and ironically would achieve the objective that the barrister wanted, a complete separation of the two areas.
6) “But I do find lying naked on a towel on a hard concrete floor inside an all-male metal framed compound an odd definition of ‘naturism’. Where is the ‘nature’?” I agree yet again. When circulating the petition many have commented why can’t the grassy bank outside the enclosure also be a naturist area? Well, unfortunately, this is not Germany where parks in most cities have naturist areas; so why are our attitudes to naturism so different in the UK? Yes, if my petition achieves its objective we will still be shielded away from prying eyes lying on hard concrete surrounded by metal; but I have to accept the realities of the British attitude towards naturism.
7) “The steel and concrete construction was designed for changing swimmers, not naturists.” So was it a figment of my imagination that pre-1992 the entire enclosure was a nude sunbathing area?
8) Shuttlecock? What is the primary function of the enclosure? Is the clothed area to be retained purely on the basis of a game of shuttlecock? A facility for shuttlecock in London is not unique. The naturist area is. Even if my petition is successful it will still be much smaller than many private gardens in the city.
9) “The truth is that it was requested by a large body of users who did not appreciate the sight of sexual acts in public.” Tell me, Robert, what evidence do you have to support this allegation? Was it one mass orgy of sex before the petition was put up?
10) “I note that Mr Peacock urges people who have never been to or seen the Highgate Pond to sign his petition. He will no doubt get thousands of signatures.” To September 3, I have collected 640 signatures at the Men’s Pond and the online petition has collected 57 signatures.
11) “But such protesters are without credibility.”
Since when does a petition become a protest?
MICHAEL PEACOCK
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