Nudists get their kit on for calendar

FOR a group dedicated to swimming in the nude, it is a profoundly shocking decision - but members of the Edinburgh Naturist Swimming Club say they have been left with little choice but to get dressed and pose clothed for their own novelty calendar.

The naturists have decided it is time to make a stand against the fashion for ‘nude’ calendars that began with a women’s institute stripping off and have since featured everyone from archers to hockey players in the buff. While their fellow naturists might not recognise them with their clothes on, the Edinburgh swimmers believe they are striking a blow for the cause of nakedness.

Robbie Baldock, a naturist and calendar model, said: "I think all these naked calendars are naff. They take the Mickey out of nakedness rather than celebrating it in a pure form. They are designed to titillate as the models, insincerely, cover parts of their body for a tease."

Fellow nude swimmer and model Karen Hetherington added: "The Women’s Institute calendar caused a stir. We’re tired of that look now and want something different. I’m keen to be ‘Fruity’ Miss October."

The result is that the Edinburgh Naturist Swimming Club (ENSC) is the first to produce a ‘clothed’ calendar. Mike Barridge, spokesman for the British Naturist Society, said: "We did toy with producing a fun calendar of our own, with members fully dressed and one naked person among them, but the financial costs involved prevented us from doing so. We have no problem with the Edinburgh club producing their own calendar all in the name of good fun.

"There are so many calendars on offer these days. They can be fun, but now it’s gone too far. Some are just tacky, just designed to titillate."

The Edinburgh club is not alone in feeling frustrated by the link many people make between naturists and nude calendars. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Outdoor Club - a more fundamentalist branch of the naturist movement - said she was furious at the nude calendar phenomenon.

"They are all exhibitionists, not naturists," she said. "Unfortunately we get lumped in with them but we are nothing like them. We don’t go flirting and flaunting our bodies in public like they do. It really annoys us as naturists that we get branded with that sort of titillating nudity. We don’t pose for papers and we don’t pose for calendars. We simply keep ourselves to ourselves."

Hinting at a possible schism within the naturist movement, the outdoor club spokeswoman attacked the Edinburgh swimmers for their controversial decision to get dressed and pose.

She said: "I don’t really see the point in it. Any Joe Bloggs on the street could pose with his clothes on. It’s got nothing whatsoever to do with naturism."

The Edinburgh Naturist Swimming Club was founded in March by 36-year-old Baldock. It meets every Friday night at Glenogle swimming pool in the city’s upmarket Stockbridge area. As many as 25 nudists at a time can be found relaxing in the steam room or swimming unencumbered in just the comfort of their own skin.

Hetherington joined the group as a means of keeping fit. She said: "It’s a lot of fun. I’m naked most of the time around my home so it’s no different for me to swim in the buff."

The club even has a naked civil servant, Steven Tummons, who signed up after seeing it featured in his local paper.

He said: "I thought it was an excellent way to keep fit and meet people. The thought of being involved with a naturist group aroused my curiosity so I went along and never looked back." He added: "The appeal of nude swimming is that it enables us to enjoy a sense of freedom that comes from being naked. I don’t know why people bother with their bodies so much. There’s no guilt in being naked here." Tummons believes the nude calendar is a tired concept. "They are so commonly available the effect is negligible," he said. "You soon get used to having a nude calendar up. After a while it’s just a spot on the wall.’’

The craze of stripping and posing for calendar shoots has swept through clubs and societies in the past two years since the Women’s Institute dreamed it up. England’s cricketers recently got in on the act - joined by their wives and girlfriends - for a charity fund-raising nude calendar.

Australian singer Kylie Minogue and TV presenter Cat Deeley are among others to have released their own calendars.