Friday 25 November 2022 08:11 PM Private dinner for naturists in pub is cancelled after locals fear it could ... trends now
In his four decades as a naturist, Keith Hillier-Palmer has been no stranger to prudery and prejudice over his lifestyle.
But when he organised a dinner for like-minded men and women at a village pub, one objection came in the altogether unexpected form of... road safety fears.
Retired teacher Mr Hillier-Palmer, 72, said managers at The Swan Inn in Sandhurst, Kent, had seemed ‘enthusiastic’ about hosting the private event.
But they then cancelled it three days before it was due to take place, suddenly leaving the 22 naturists who had bought tickets with nothing on that evening.
Complaints were made by locals to the pub and the parish council over the dinner – including that the sight of naked people through the windows could distract passing motorists.
Naturist Keith Hillier-Palmer, 72, (right) and his partner Peter Hillier-Palmer, 65, (left) are part of the East Sussex Naturists group. The pair had planned to host a pub dinner with 22 other naturists but it was cancelled after the local Parish Council received complaints that it could distract driver
A parish council source said: ‘The Swan has got huge windows with no curtains at the front and is on a busy road. There was concern it could be a hazard and possibly cause an accident.’
The pub was prepared to put black tablecloths up in the windows to cover the glass up to head height for the event.
But by then word of the naturists’ visit had spread in the small community and in the face of what one local described as ‘general uproar’, the pub cancelled the event.
Mr Hillier-Palmer, a committee member of East Sussex Naturists group, who lives in Rye, a 20-minute drive from the pub, said: ‘We’ve held similar events in other pubs and road safety’s never been an issue.
‘I also belong to a naturist ramblers’ club called the Stark Trekkers. Some of our rambles are near roads and people go past without crashing their vehicles.
The couple posed for photographs in their garden when the Mail spoke to them this week
‘It’s disappointing. The pub would only have been open to naturists with tickets that night, they wouldn’t have been among clothed diners, and they would’ve been clothed when entering and leaving.
‘A lot more people are accepting of naturism nowadays. Textiles – as we call people in clothes – often say hello and smile when we meet them on rambles.
‘But unfortunately there are still a few who have Victorian views and are prudish about it.’
He and his partner Peter Hillier-Palmer, 65, a retired Royal Mail sorting
