The Naked Rambler - The most notorious
nudist in Britain
On June 16 2003 Mr Steve Gough set off from
Land's End in England with the intention of walking the entire
length of Britain while completely naked. His final destination
was to be John O'Groats at the very tip of Scotland, and his only
clothing was a bush hat, a ruck sack and hiking boots.
Unfortunately at the time of writing Steve has not been able to
complete his walk as he is currently detained at Her Majesty's
Pleasure.
Steve's odyssey was first reported as vague sightings of a naked
man by locals in the south of England. North Yorkshire police
reported five separate spottings of an "athletic man with an
all-over tan," but remained baffled as to what was going on.
Before long the newspapers had dubbed him the "Naked
Rambler", and interest grew.
Finally the Channel 4 news crew unveiled his identity, with the
help of Steve's website. Suddenly the entire nation knew that the
Naked Rambler was a 44 year old father of three who had previously
been a lorry driver before he became unemployed.
Steve announced he wanted to do the walk "as a celebration of
myself as a human being, and my body as part of that." He
told the Guardian newspaper that he had been keeping mainly to
rarely-used hiking tracks, but he had walked through populated
areas at times.
At the time of writing Steve had been arrested at least 16 times.
Most of those arrests have been for breach of the peace, as nudity
is not illegal in Britain. He has encountered his most trouble
with the police in Scotland. On the 28th November 2003 he was
officially given a three month jail sentence after being arrested
in early October in Ross-shire. As he had spent most of that time
in custody, he then walked free and proceeded to re-start his
naked hike. Police then re-arrested him and he was again remanded
in custody, awaiting trial in the new year.
During the first hearing, his solicitor said: "He has engaged
in this type of behaviour in order to raise public awareness of
the human state and celebrate himself as a human being. He has no
perception of any wrongdoing."
After his release, Mr Gough said "This is how they treat a
human being. Shame, shame."
Steve Gough is expected to appear in court again shortly.
- This article written 8th December 2003
Update March 2006 - He made it again...
and is still in trouble
Naked
Rambler jailed for contempt - BBC
Naked
Rambler completes his trek - BBC
Naked
Rambler finally gets dressed - Independent Online
Update June 2005 - Second Attempt
Steve Gough has made his second attempt to
walk the length of Britain naked. This time he has been accompanied
by his girlfriend and numerous nude supporters. Once again he
has encountered difficulty with local authorities, particularly
in Edinburgh.
Naked
Rambler angers sheriff - Jailed for contempt of court for
refusing to wear clothes in court.
Naked
Rambler sets off again with girlfriend - Scotsman
Naked
rambler takes girlfriend on nude walk - Reuters
Update 8th January 2004 - Steve Gough
has been found guilty of breaching the peace and his bail conditions,
and faces another stint in jail. Gough had unsuccessfully argued
that his walk should be allowed as a right of freedom of expression.
Naked
rambler sent back to jail (Ananova)
Update 23 January 2004 - He made it!!
Steve Gough has finally made it to John O'Groat's, buck naked
in freezing weather. He was greeted by a crowd of wellwishers and
frenzied media. Gough sipped champagne and said he was looking
forward to a good meal and a soft bed.
"I think tonight I'll have a
really big meal because I haven't really eaten in the last few
days. I ran out of food and ended up having to drink out of
streams. I'll have to have a
think about what I'm going to do next. "This
is just one step in the whole process of making people aware about
our bodies because we are so paranoid about them."
Naked
rambler completes his trek - BBC
End
of road for naked rambler - Guardian
Brit
in the buff does his stuff - SMH
Update 18 May 2006 - Nude on a plane
Steve Gough was arrested after stripping naked in the toilet
of a plane. He was flying back to Edinburgh to face contempt
of court charges and figured he'd nude up in-flight. The attendants
requested he put his clothes back on and he refused. Police
charged him at the airport.
Naked
rambler arrested for mid-air strip - The Scotsman
Naked
Rambler lands jail term for in-flight strip - The Scotsman,
24 Jun 2006
Court
ban for Naked Rambler - The Scotsman, 18 Aug 2006
Naked
Rambler won't dress despite latest prison term - The Scotsman,
26 Aug 2006
Original News Items about the Naked Rambler
Naked
Rambler Arrested Again - BBC
All
is revealed: Nude hiker named - The Guardian
Court
dresses down naked rambler - CNN
Case
against naked rambler is dropped - Guardian
Website
Steve
Gough's website - features photos and diary entries from
both walks.
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