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The weather during the weeks leading up to the first walk of 2006 was much colder than usual so we were all praying for some warmer weather as the date of the Alice Holt walk approached. The weather did oblige briefly and Spring did put in a brief appearance. However, as the 5th April approached, the weather went back to being cold, it was however sunny, but the cold forecast did put some people off.

The day dawned with not a cloud in the sky, but with a sharp frost on the ground. Even when I left home the thermometer was stuck on 6 degrees. We met up in a pub car park, some dressed in shorts, others in anoraks and thick sweaters. As the cold northerly blew across the car park the wiser members of the group took refuge in the pub.

14 walkers turned up with a nice smattering of new faces. By the time that we set off, the sun's rays coming out of a cloudless sky were just about beating the cooling effect of the breeze. By the time we got into the woods, the shelter of the trees took the edge off the wind and the sun was very much winning. After a short distance, Bill announced that it OK to remove clothing. About 4 of us took up the challenge and continued to walk as nature intended. Soon after, I joined them. Out of the wind and in the sun it really was quite warm (well relatively!). As the day passed, just about everybody was nude at some stage.

Lunch was taken in the corner of a sheltered grassy field. It had gone from being warm to really quite hot. I suspect that a few would have stayed there all afternoon, but Bill dragged us away after a suitably long break.
We did the walk in the reverse direction compared with the last time that we did it. We got lost and found a few times and we bumped into a surprising number of dog walkers at one stage, but none appeared to realise the purpose of our walk.
One aspect of walking so early in the year is that the trees have no leaves, so we were all naked together! This does mean that the sun can penetrate the branches increasing the warming effects of the sun.
As the walk neared its end, not surprisingly the temperature did start to drop and we all arrived back at the pub in a similar clothed style to how we left it earlier in the day. In conclusion, bearing in mind the walk was in early April and the forecast was cold, a very large number of us spent many hours getting our first all over tan of the year.

The weather man got his forecast just about right as it turned out warm with sunny periods. It was a delight to be able to stand still and not feel a cool breeze! We met at the Red Lion and after a rather fine pint of beer 17 of us got under way.
This year's walk had some new sections which bolted onto the traditional walk. To confuse matters further we did the walk in the anti-clockwise direction rather than the usual clockwise direction.
We were soon on the high part of the Forest with a warm breeze and magnificent views over to the South Downs. The new section of the walk took us down to the ponds and river at Braberry hatch. The leaves were not on the trees yet, so the sun was able to dapple its way through the trees. We cris-crossed the river several times and then climbed back up to the higher more open parts of the forest.
We crossed the A22 and quickly disappeared into forestry land. We ignored the sign advising 'authorised persons only'. From earlier recognisance, the area had not been touched for some years to we were free of any stray textiles and had the deserted woodland and paths to ourselves, except for the deer!
Lunch was at the bottom of the valley by the side of a stream and small pond. At the lunch spot we had agreed to meet two SOC walkers who could only make the afternoon part of the walk. The duly found the lunch spot so our number increased to 19.

We still had a long way to go, and as the sun had disappeared behind the clouds so we were soon on our way again. It was a steep climb up the far side of the valley. We crossed the road on the ridge and then descended towards Broadstone Warren. At this point the new section of the route rejoined the traditional walk. The forestry people had clearly been busy as much tree felling had taken place since last year. We stopped for a short break and group photo by a small pond.

We re-crossed the A22 again and were soon back in the woods. The going was made easier than previous years due to the construction of two new wooden bridges over what were previously muddy streams. The path beared north and followed the line of the Greenwich Meriden for a while.
It was then a fairly direct but muddy path back to the pub for a well deserved beer!

The weather was great as best part of 30 people arrived at the car park on Bury Hill for our walk along the Ridgeway. To the north Didcot power station bellowed its steam majestically into the atmosphere, and just down below us was Harwell Business Centre discreetly hiding its nuclear reactors. Despite this cauldron of power production, the views from to car park were magnificent.

We set off in a relaxed attitude. Our leader, Tony had asked if we could try and keep together, but in no time at all he had shot off into the distance, causing the group to string out, but it was not a problem. We were so engrossed in conversation that we did not notice a couple of textile who passed us in the opposite direction.

After a while Tony paused to let everybody catch up. It was only then that a couple of textiles emerged from the long grass nearby, to take photos of us. We had all clearly walked past them un-aware of their presence. We did not inquire what they were doing in the long grass!

Towards the end of the walk, Michael, who was at the back of the group was confronted by a farmer on a quad bike, who asked him to put his clothes on while walking across his land. Not to cause a stir, Michael duly obliged. We could hear the quad bike in the distance as the farmer was clearly shadowing us. We 'covered up' to cross a minor road. As we did, the farmer on his bike was there and informed us that he had made a phone call to the police complaining about us. We just ignored him and continued on our walk as nature intended when out of sight of the farmer.

The farmer continued to shadow us, but we ignored him. As we approached the car park at the end of the walk, we got dressed so that we all arrived in shorts and tee shirts. In a nearby corner of a field was the farmer and a colleague in a tractor. Again, we just ignored them, but by that stage we were just a group of 'normal' walkers, so the farmer was starting to look a bit silly.

Not long after, both farmers disappeared realising that what ever that had in mind was fruitless. Shortly after that a police car arrived in the car park. A young woman officer was driving with a slightly older colleague. They sat there for a while admiring the view, as there was little else to do. After a few minutes, Tony, who was fully aware that we had not broken the law, took pity on them and went to have a chat with them. The conversation went a bit like this:

Tony: 'Are you looking for us?'
Woman Police Office: 'Are you the group of naturist walkers?'
Tony: 'We certainly are.'
Woman: 'I'm very sorry about this, but we had a complaint, so we had to investigate. You have had a nice day for your walk'
Tony: 'We do these walks on a regular basis all over South East England.'
Woman, who by this stage was showing signs of definite interest: 'Are you doing any more walks in this area?'
Tony: 'Would you like to join us then?'
With smiles all round Tony gave her the programme of all the walks, and she promised to put it up on the station notice board.
The male office then apologised profusely about the fact that we had been cause so much inconvenience.

Afterwards a large number of our group assembled in the local pub for a much deserved beer and meal.

	The RAF pop in for lunch!
	Lunch Stop

	More lunchtime entertainment

	The hotest July day on record (95 F / 35 C), but that did not stop us!
	We did have lunch in the shade though.
	Bognor and the Channel in the background.
	A well deserved dip in the sea at Climping to cool off.

At long last the heat wave broke, and for our walk from Graveley the weather was bright and brezzy. the walk finishes up just north of Baldock. Initially we had lost of sun, but as it progressed the clouds built up and so did the wind!

The Friston Forest walk is an old favourite. It is a lovely walk through the Forest and over the Downs, finishing on the Birling Gap naturist beach. It is not a circular walk and in previous years it has always been rather tedious getting the walkers to and from the start and end point. But this year we tried something a little different by meeting at the 'finish point' at Birling Gap, and then catching a bus, which stops not far from the 'start point'.

So 20 of us caught the 12.26pm bus. it was slightly late when it arrived, and by the time that we all alighted onto the bus, it was a further 8 minutes later. The general weather forecast was mixed with sunny periods and heavy showers. We drove through the showers on the way to Birling Gap, and as the started the walk there was hardly a cloud in the sky. However, the showers returned and we had a damp and breezy lunch stop. As the day progressed the weather improved and by mid-afternoon the showers departed to leave us with a cloudless sky.

The route of the walk was modified slightly from previous years, the biggest change being that rather than taking a direct route between East Dean Church and Birling Gap, the route was lengthened to include part of the Seven Sisters Way and two of the Seven Sisters.

We had the coastal path virtually to ourselves. The views were magnificent in all directions. It was rather windy, but that just heightened the experience of being in such a wonder location, as nature intended.

It was high tide on the beach and several of the group attempted a swim but the rough conditions restricted them to a cautious paddle!

	This was our first walk in the New Forest which was brilliantly put together by Geoff. Our starting point also coincided with a steam car rally.
	23 of us turned up, but only 22 started the walk. No. 23 had problems with his car!
	The New Forest is enormous. You can walk for miles and see only ponies.
	Its not all open heathland.
	Late evening sunshine.
	A pony pointing the way back to the pub and a well deserved beer!

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