Nude is not rude

As unlikely as it may seem, it's becoming more acceptable for people to strip off for a dip in the sea or to lie on a beach to get an all-over tan. A new enthusiasm for wild swimming and the rediscovery of secluded beaches where naturism is encouraged has led to a very un-British disrobing. Artist Spencer Tunick, who ‘documents the live nude figure in public', had no shortage of volunteers when he photographed 1,700 nude Brits on the quaysides at Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead and on the Millennium Bridge. All we need now is a summer heatwave for the transition to a nation of the uninhibited to be complete. Click here for the UK's top naturist beaches

Wild, daring and free

Goosebumps aside, the appeal of naturism is easy to understand. It provides a taste of freedom as everyday concerns are cast aside with the paraphernalia of clothing. Frequent skinny-dipper Jo Griffiths explains: ‘It feels wild, daring and free,' she says. ‘I wouldn't call myself a naturist, but I love being submerged in the sea without a costume. The best bit is coming out, exhilarated from the cold water, and drying in the sun naturally. The sea salt stays on your skin and you feel really healthy. It's like a natural spa treatment.'

The choice of beach is important. Jo suggests a naturist beach such as Studland Bay in Dorset. ‘Then you avoid the anxiety of onlookers' disapproval when you emerge from the sea,' she says. ‘You know you will be private and safe.' For this reason, access to a boat, even a dinghy, is a good idea, providing a base to jump in from and return to. Once the beach has been chosen, and the chattels of civilisation abandoned, for a few hours it is possible to live as simply as can be, with no possessions and nothing to worry about apart from the application of sun cream. And when the sun shines and a sea breeze blows gently along the sand, there is little to beat the feeling of soaking up the sun's warmth on your body as you lie in a dune watching the clouds scud past.

A healthy way to relax

The commonly held belief is that it is only legal to strip off on an officially sanctioned naturist beach, but it is not actually against the law to be naked anywhere in the UK. ‘If I walk out of my house naked now, I am not committing an offence,' says Andrew Welch, commercial manager for British Naturism. ‘The police would have to show I had an intention to offend or to harm if someone made a complaint. Rather than fighting battles we don't have to fight, we spend time on our own naturist beaches among other naked people.'

Some people prefer the companionable nature of an official naturists' event to a solo dip, and to find out more, I travelled to Eastney, near Portsmouth, to join British Naturism on one of its summer Beach Days. I am greeted by Mike Houlsby, one of the leaders of Eastney Naturists' campaign to save their quiet beach, which has been used by naturists since the 1930s, from developers who want to build flats that would overlook the beach. They are also hoping to attract new recruits, though the blustery, unseasonable weather today makes that unlikely. ‘This is a lovely quiet corner of Portsmouth,' says Mike of the beach, which is currently overlooked only by some derelict Ministry of Defence buildings. ‘You hear tales of people moving to the countryside and then complaining to the farmer about the cockerel waking them up. So we are concerned that the new flat-owners may complain about us.'

One man who knows all about the history of the site, as well as that of naturism in the UK, is Derek Sutton, who has been visiting Eastney for 60 years. He leans against one of the concrete blocks sunk into the beach to deter a German landing in World War II, as he recounts some of the beach's history. ‘I must have been using it since the 1940s on and off,' he says. ‘Originally it was four fellows and a couple of women who came down. The beach was mined, then people started to find trails where they could walk without being blown up. When it was being used more by the public, they got the Polish mine-clearance chaps in. Attitudes to naturism have changed over the years - at one time, you had to be careful over who you disclosed to.'

Both Mike and Derek are keen to point out the health advantages of being naked by the sea, not least the amount of vitamin D that the body can absorb when the sun does appear - though both have had brushes with sunburn. ‘A chopped tomato takes the burn out,' Derek says. ‘I spent two-and-a-half years in the Middle East with the Royal Air Force and learnt that there.' Mike Houlsby also points out that being naked among others can help dispel discomfort about body image, as well as being good for the blood pressure, he says. ‘It's a healthier relaxant than a gin and tonic. And you see all the different body shapes - you don't have kids growing up with the dysfunctional idea of the perfect body that you might see in the papers.'

British Naturism boasts 13,000 members, who meet at social events and act as a pressure group to retain and expand naturist sites. Membership is falling slightly, but Andrew Welch believes this is because the pursuit is more accepted. ‘People can skinny-dip or be topless on the beach without being part of an organisation,' he says. ‘It is not as big a taboo as it used to be.' And what about those bits that may not have seen the sun for years? It is not just the, erm, obvious parts you should apply the factor 40 to, as Mike Houlsby tells me when I ask which bits are vulnerable to burning. ‘I know what you're suggesting,' he says. ‘I do get burnt, but usually on my shoulders and the top of my head, but not there strangely enough.'

The bare facts: a history of UK naturism

Britons have swum and basked in the sun naked for as long as the UK has been populated, but it wasn't until the Edwardian era that the naturist movement emerged. This followed nascent naturist leanings in both Germany and France, with the movement gaining support here after World War I, following articles in the 'New Statesman' and 'Health & Efficiency', with the latter becoming a naturist magazine in 1931.

The first formal naturist club, the English Gymnosophist Society, was formed in London in 1922, with the Sunlight League being founded in 1924 to encourage sunbathing, clothed or unclothed. Things got radical the next year, with the founding of the Sun Ray Club, which proposed a naked march through Hyde Park by campaigners. This period also saw the founding of the Sun Bathing Society, which produced literature and gave lectures on clothed and naked sunbathing.

After World War II, the movement gained momentum again, with a Festival of Naturism being held in Kent to coincide with the 1951 Festival of Britain. In 1961, the British Sun Bathing Association abandoned the term ‘nudist' and adopted ‘naturist', which is used to this day, though it took until 1978, following a campaign by naturist groups, for the first official clothing-optional beach to be established at Fairlight Glen, near Hastings. This was followed two years later by the recognition of naturist beaches at Brighton and Bridlington. Naturist events are held all over the country, from Alton Towers to the Eden Project.

Click here for the UK's top naturist beaches