The BN Alton Towers Naturist weekend 2006

What a weekend! We had a fantastic time at Alton Towers back in November – a truly memorable weekend. It’s always difficult to describe the community spirit, excitement and – in this case – euphoria, to people who were not able to be at an event, but we’ll try…

For anyone not aware, or new to British Naturism, Alton Towers approached us in March, 2006, suggesting an exclusive weekend at their hotel complex whilst the theme park was closed for annual maintenance. Naturally, we took them up on the offer and around 275 BN members spent the weekend at the Splash Landings hotel. Nudity was permitted from 6 p.m. Friday until midday Sunday. We arranged all sorts of events and activities to keep people entertained, and the fabulous Waterpark – Cariba Creek – was open throughout, busy with naked people for the first time in its history.

For many people, this was their first BN event and others had joined us especially to be able to go – feedback from both groups was excellent. This also seemed to be an event that appealed to younger people, with plenty of families with small children and 20-odd members of YBN coming along. A venue of this calibre is never going to be cheap – and we know the room-rate meant that a lot of people decided not to attend – but guests commented on the excellent value for money that the weekend provided. Plenty of people made use of our “room-sharing” scheme and, as a result, perhaps had the best value of all.

It was wonderful to be able to wander fully naked anywhere at all times in November. People said that this aspect struck them most when walking naked into a conventional hotel corridor first thing in the morning, and when they realised that they did not have to get changed once they had been in Cariba Creek. The surfaces meant that even shoes were never needed.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with comments and reports of their experiences. It would be impossible to publish them all, or mention everyone who helped in some way by name, but here’s a summary of this landmark naturist event. We also got some great feedback from last year's guests.

Cariba Creek Waterpark

The centrepiece of the hotel and the whole weekend for many, was Cariba Creek. Our exclusive use meant there were no queues on the various attractions. We paddled and swam in Lagoona Bay, were drenched under 1,000 litres of water from the Tipping Bucket, tried to avoid being sprayed with water from cannons and spouts just about everywhere, rode the Master Blaster – a “water-coaster” that took us up as well as down, whizzed down and around in the many flumes, drifted around the lazy river, were taken outside by the Flash Floods - not as bad as it seems even for November, as the heated pools were wonderfully warm, as long as you kept your shoulders under! It culminated in the steaming waters of the "Bubbly Wubbly" jacuzzi. Cariba Creek was also a great place to just sit, chat, watch the world go by and perhaps even nod off…

Daytime events

Our two guest speakers – Richard Hobday, author of The Healing Sun, and Alan Palmer, who wrote The Reluctant Nudist – both gave excellent and interesting speeches about their books, signing copies at the BN shop afterwards. Thanks to them both for giving up their time to entertain us. The naturist cinema show ran through the day on Saturday, showing four movies twice each during the day, allowing people to see the ones they wanted and not miss other activities. We were particularly pleased to be given permission by SCW Productions to show Craven Walker’s world-renowned film Travelling Light from the late 1950s – the first authorised public screening for 40 years. The bingo session was very popular and great fun, even if people were enjoying the antics of the caller more than the bingo itself! Kids and some intrepid adults played the Treasure Hunt, with Alistair winning an “adopt-a-turtle” prize from the Marine Conservation Society. An impromptu belly- dancing workshop attracted trainee dancers and a sizeable audience. Visitors browsed the exhibition hall tables all day on Saturday. It may have been a little cramped, but you certainly could not miss it! In addition to various BN stalls, displays and slide-shows, including YBN and the holiday advisors dispensing information, visitors found out more about Wirral Naturist Club, Abbey House Gardens, Red Letter Days’ Garden of Eden event, the Marine Conservation Society and Vassiliki, the new British-owned resort in Kefalonia.

Food and drink

No need to dress for dinner either, or breakfast and lunch for that matter. Food was delicious and plentiful and served buffet-style, which was perfect since it gave people a chance to mingle and share tables with whoever they chose. There was also a huge choice and you could fill your plate as often as you wished. The beach bar opened when the Waterpark did and the bar in the hotel was open 24 hours, making a convenient “collapsing” area for those who needed to relax and recuperate – whatever the time.

Nighttime entertainment

The Friday night coincided with BBC Children in Need and a “Spot the (volley) ball” competition was arranged, raising money for that good cause. Most people caught up with old friends and made new ones that evening in the bar, and the sound system led to impromptu dancing. Early Saturday evening saw the kids’ disco, with Jim Russell behind the turntables and Angela Russell dancing non-stop for an hour encouraging the kids to join in! Later, the pub quiz was an eagerly contested, sometimes heated, but always fun, activity in which most people participated. Thanks to Red Letter Days, the winning team took home a case of wine. The grand prize draw followed, with great prizes - including three holidays from Vassiliki naturist resort, David and Ann James Travel and Hotel Zum Walde - being handed out by President Pat Thompson. All guests’ names had been entered into a separate draw for many smaller prizes, which followed. Jim’s evening disco was a blast and a highlight of the weekend for many people. The way that events and dining had flowed into each other meant that people had not had time to put on their glad-rags (or probably didn’t want to, actually) and so, unusually, the disco was a naked affair. We danced to everything, sang at the tops of our voices and had a fabulous time, well into the night.

Staff

The staff of Alton Towers, from the senior management to the restaurant and Waterpark staff, were terrific. Helpful, welcoming and attentive to our every need. It is a top-class venue, run extremely well, and they really seemed to like having us there. They’d had some other “unusual” (their words, not ours) groups over previous weekends and told us that, despite their “fears” (their word again), they found us to be the nicest and most normal group. They commented that we were all so happy and relaxed that they concluded there was something to be gained by being a naturist, over and above the simple pleasure of being without clothes. The Waterpark staff said after the event that the next set of textile visitors seemed suddenly ridiculous in their costumes, and the security guards - brought in to man the door as it was an exclusive event – were delighted to tell us that never before had people made an effort to come up and speak to them. We feel that we changed many perceptions of naturism and naturists over the weekend and, have gained some new recruits - some of the bar staff recently went to a swim at Bramcote.

Our sponsors

Many thanks to all the people who helped us to make this a weekend to remember by donating prizes, attending the event, advertising or providing giveaways:

Abbey House Gardens

Ann & David James Travel

Canarian Dreams

Diogenes Sun Club

The Eden Project

Hotel Zum Walde

Lifestyle Press

Lonely Planet

Marine Conservation Society

NuVu

Parafotos

Peng Travel

Red Letter Days

SCW Productions

Vassaliki resort

Wirral Naturist Club

Each guest was given an exclusive British Naturism beach bag on arrival – look out for them on the beaches this summer.

See you this year?

If you have been inspired by what you have read here, a date has been announced for The second BN Alton Towers Naturist weekend