United Kingdom
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Information on World Naked Bike Ride events in the United Kingdom...
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The UK World Naked Bike Ride fund meets the cost of insuring rides
across the UK, and provides local organisers with money for
poster/flyer printing, advertising, ride equipment etc.
Please give generously.
Contents
Ride locations
See List of rides in United Kingdom or browse the United Kingdom category
Future rides
There is some talk of holding a southern hemisphere solidarity ride in March of 2010. This would probably be a one-mile ride which started and finished at/near a heated indoor setting where riders could stay warm.
The following rides have set dates for taking place in June 2010:
- Southampton Friday 11 June 2010
- London Saturday 12 June 2010
- Brighton & Hove Sunday 13 June 2010
- York Saturday 19 June 2010
- Sheffield Saturday 19 June 2010
Other towns which may participate are
These rides can be brought into being if organisers step forward and offer to work to make them happen. All rides are organised by local riders.
Other upcoming events
The World Naked Bike Ride anticipates holding a stall at the following events (among others).
Southampton University Environment & Ethics Week
May 1st 2009
Environmental Rock
April 25 2009, 12 noon - 6pm
The Hobbit pub, 134 Bevois Valley Road, Southampton, SO14 0JZ
Kingston Green Fair
Not taking place in 2009
Canbury Gardens, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
Camden Green Fair And Bikefest
Not taking place in 2009
Regent's Park, London, NW1
Press enquiries
Press work is usually handled by local ride coordinators or press officers. For UK-wide information, see the United Kingdom Media Information page.
Posters
For the 2009 rides, full colour A4 posters have been printed for each ride. If more are needed, PDF versions of them can be downloaded for:
to be printable locally.
FAQs
The United Kingdom FAQ page answers questions especially relevant to UK riders and organisers.
Legality
UK laws relating to public nudity
The following links will be of interest to people organising rides in the UK:
- Sexual Offences Act 2003, Section 66 - Exposure (c/o the Office of Public Sector Information)
- Wikipedia: Sexual Offences Act 2003
- Laws relevant to nudity in public places from the Naturist UK Fact File (NUFF)
- Vincent Bethell explains UK law including his not guilty verdicts plus letters from New Scotland Yard saying Breach Of Peace is not applicable to public nakedness view main site: Stop Racist Human Skin Phobia (SRHSP)
Police restrictions
From 2004 to 2009, there have been 30 UK Naked Bike Rides with a cumulative total of 7,000+ riders in 11 locations, and no arrests.
It is unlikely that police will object to nudity at future rides in England and Wales. Local police officially acknowledged the legality of full nudity at all seven rides in 2008 and all five rides in 2007. They required people to wear clothes at three English rides (Brighton, Manchester and Bristol) in 2006, but have made no such restrictions at later events.
In contrast, Scottish police have never allowed full nudity at the two Edinburgh rides in 2004 and 2008.
For UK rides where full nudity wasn't permitted, police requirements of body coverage seemed to be similar. The groin area needed to be covered, as did female nipples. However, buttocks could be shown by either men or women.
Media coverage
This section needs updating. There have been much TV, Radio, print and online coverage of the WNBR in the UK, but most of this info is stored with the local ride's webpages.
General
2009
- The Guardian, The Guide, 13-19 Jun 2009: "World Naked Bike Ride"
- The Guardian Ethical Living Blog, 12 Jun 2009: "Riders get naked for a weekend of anti-car cycling demonstrations"
- Road.cc, 12 Jun 2009: "Naked bike rides today get your kit off and get on your bike!"
2007
- Morning Star, 10 Jun 2007: "Streaking cyclists highlight car addiction"
2006
- Don't Panic Media, Transport issue, Apr/May 2006: "World Naked Bike Ride 2006"
- Bike For All News, 4 May 2006: "Get set for bare butt biking on June 10th"
- BBC Learning English Weekender programme, ? Jun 2006: "Naked Bike Ride"
2004
- Bike Biz News, 12 Jun 2004: "Bike Week kicks off with glorious weather and media exposure"
History
Summary of the History
2009 - 2,330 riders in 7 rides
2008 - 1,842 riders in 8 rides
2007 - 1,437 riders in 5 rides (all were part of Bike Week)
2006 - 1,067 riders in 5 rides (all were part of Bike Week except Bristol)
2005 - 270 riders in 2 rides (both were part of Bike Week)
2004 - 130 riders in 3 rides in the UK during the first year of the WNBR
Please note, we haven't included in 2009 the 2 reported spontaneous rides with 2 riders each.
2009
- York: Fri 12 June, 5pm (100 riders)
- Southampton: Fri 12 June, 6pm (150 riders)
- Manchester: Fri 12 June, 6pm (100 riders)
- Sheffield: Sat 13 June, 10am (18 riders)
- London: Sat 13 June, 3pm (1,200 riders - largest daytime naked ride in history)
- Cardiff: Sat 13 June, 3pm (62 riders)
- Edinburgh: Sat 13 June, 3pm (2 riders - spontaneous/self-organised ride)
- Oxford: Sat 13 June ?pm (2 riders - spontaneous/self-organised ride)
- Brighton & Hove: Sun 14 June, 1.30pm (700 riders)
2008
- Southampton: Fri 6 June, 6pm (156 riders)
- Brighton & Hove: Sat 7 June, 11am (400 riders, 8-mile route)
- York: Sat 7 June, 4pm (90 riders)
- Sheffield: Sun 8 June, 2pm (29 riders)
- Manchester: Fri 13 June, 6pm (90 riders)
- London: Sat 14 June, 3pm (1,000 riders, 6-mile route)
- Cardiff: Sat 14 June, 3.30pm (37 riders)
- Edinburgh: Sun 29 June, 3pm (30-40 riders) Police prevented full nudity, as in 2004.
2007
- York: Fri 8 June, 5pm (65 riders, 5-mile route)
- Southampton: Fri 8 June, 6pm (102 riders)
- Manchester: Fri 8 June, 6pm (50 riders)
- Brighton: Sat 9 June, 10am (220 riders, 7-mile route)
- London: Sat 9 June, 3pm (1,000 riders, 6-mile route)
2006
- York: Fri 9 June, 5pm (60 riders, 5-mile route)
- Manchester: Fri 9 June, 5pm (30 riders). Police prevented full nudity.
- Brighton: Sat 10 June, 10am (160 riders, 6-mile route). Police prevented full nudity.
- London: Sat 10 June, 3pm (800 riders, 6-mile route)
- Bristol: Sat 14 October (17 riders on a spontaneous route for 1 hour). Police prevented full nudity.
2005
- London: Sat 10 June, 3pm (250 riders, 6-mile route) The first ride for which police consented to nudity in advance.
- Bath: Sun 11 June (20 riders at the Wacky Races event for The Wheel Thing)
2004
- Edinburgh: Sat 12 June, afternoon (70 riders on a spontaneous route). Police prevented full nudity.
- Sussex: Sat 12 June – two brave riders made the smallest UK WNBR to date
- London: Sat 12 June, 8pm (58 riders on a negotiated spontaneous 2.5 mile route through Hyde Park)
Links
Websites
- WNBR UK (this website)
Discussion groups
- WNBR UK Yahoo! group