1995 may go down in nudist history as the year of the Studland
rebellion... 'The Battle for Studland Bay' begins...
The first step in CONTRAS campaign
was to call for an open meeting to decide how nudists
should react and at 2pm on a sunny 1st July a mixed crowd of about 200
people gathered on the beach at the bottom of Footpath 6.
The National Trust and English Nature were not invited but their
curiosity was such that at 2pm sharp a group of 3 or 4 uniformed
'representatives' appeared.
To say the meeting was stormy would be an
understatement!
Nudists
insisted they would not be 'zoned' and called on the Trust to remove the
posts. Many were furious that the Trust had created a new and
unnecessary path through a SSSI. Others wondered why they Trust saw the
need
to direct families through an area used by nudists for over 75 years.
Many feared the Trust were trying to rid Studland of nudists entirely
and this was the first step.
National Trust representatives agree nudist = sex
offender
Whilst most directed their complaints to the Trust some textiles and
homophobes relished the opportunity of a public forum to direct abuse at
nudists and supported the Trust. Insults were thrown and allegations
that nudists = sex offenders were made and to their discredit the
representatives from The National Trust nodded approvingly.
After 40 minutes of heated argument the meeting finished with the
Trust insisting nudists stay inside the zone and making clear they and
no intention of removing the boundary or the new path.
Over the
next 6 weeks CONTRAS collected nearly 1,200 protest signatures and
arranged the first formal meeting with the Trust.
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