# 186 - September 2003

[The New Zealand Naturist] (Pages: 32)

Contents:-

Be Bare - The Ides of March
Ladies a Hat... Men a Jacket
Polar Bares (Orchard, Midwinter swim)
Auckland Sun Club - Then and Now (Ron Rencher)
Snow Nudes (Pineglades)
Nudvan 10th Anniversary (Shirley Morton)
Bay of Plenty - Bulls and More
Club News (5)
Presidents Corner
Reflections from 1959, Skinny Dipping at Ohau Beach (Aubrey Fitton)
Letters to the Editor
Auckland Sun Club Celebrates 67 years of Naturism
NZ Club Directory: (22)
Australian Club Directory: (38)

Editor: Les Olsen

Features:-

Auckland Sun Club THEN... & NOW

The early 1970's saw the club with its greatest number of members and a truly remarkable sense of purpose. Trips to other clubs and other venues were wonderfully supported. On the club grounds 'camp-ins' brought the members together, volleyball flourished and a very well-earned reputation for terrific 'afternoon teas' was established.

The Auckland Sun Club had it's beginnings early in the 1930's and it's continuing existence is a great tribute to the few very courageous people who in those days were prepared to stand up for the freedom to practice social nudism. Amongst these early pioneers were Percy Cousins, Ivan Mowlem, Eric Flint and Bert Brittain.
In Auckland, Bert Brittain had made contact with a number of interested folk and by the summer of 1936/37 was in a position to found the original Auckland Sun Club.
Years later he wrote of the lengths to which he had to go in order to set up such a club against all the conventions of the time. There were clandestine meetings at the railway station in Auckland with people who identified themselves by means of a rolled up newspaper under their arms! One meeting was with a couple whom identified themselves by wearing white flowers on their coats. He told of a man and wife who had earlier tried to start a sun club. This time the media got hold of the story and reporters camped on their doorstep and just wouldn't go away. Eventually the unfortunate couple had to move from their flat and yet another attempt to form a club bit the dust. But eventually Best's persistence paid off and the inaugural meeting of his new club was held at Woodlands Park Estate, Huia Road, Titirangi. Bert Brittain was elected as the club's first President.
By 1939, when the second world war broke out, the club was thriving and had grown to over 60 members. But these were difficult days and it became virtually impossible for members to get the petrol needed to travel to the club grounds. So, regrettably, the club went into recess for the duration of the war. All was not entirely lost however, and a faithful few managed to stay in contact. Whenever they were able they continued to meet at the Titirangi property. Later in the war they moved their meeting place to grounds on the West Coast Road situated about four sections up from the site of the present club. This situation continued until 1949 and it was during this period, in 1941, that Bert Brittain purchased the West Coast Road property that was eventually to become the club's final home.
In 1949 the members came together to discuss how to restart the club. Bert Brittain, though now unwilling to get involved in any official capacity, did offer some sound advice on how to go about it. He reminded them that in the earlier days of the club their advertising had come completely unstuck when a newspaper Editor looked at the club name (with the word 'Sun ' in it) and suddenly realised that his paper was actually advertising nudism! So, when the club reformed, Bert suggested that it should be renamed 'The Auckland Outdoor Health Club'. This idea was accepted by the members and seemed to be effective in preventing any further advertising problems. Even more practically, Bert offered the club free use of his property and the club reformed on its present grounds just down the drive from his cottage. In 1953, when Bert's wife Helen died, he lost interest in the club and withdrew from all club activities for a number of years.
In 1954, as so often happened to nudist clubs in those early days, a split occurred. A majority of the members decided that they wanted to purchase a property of their own, and moved to a new site in Ranui, taking the name of 'Auckland Outdoor Health Club' with them. Those few club members who stayed put, decided that the club revert to its original name - 'Auckland Sun Club'.
In 1952 one of the members, Norman Murray, asked if he could buy the property. Bert agreed to sell him the land, but continued to own and live in the cottage at the top of the drive. Finally, in 1964, Norman Murray very generously gifted the land to the club and became the club's patron, a position that he held until his death in 1981.
A photograph of him in military uniform is in the clubhouse over the fireplace. The land was renamed 'Murrayglade" in his honour.
In August 1967 membership had fallen to a mere 20 members and the club was clearly in the doldrums. At this point three new couples joined the club and decided that something had to be done to retrieve the situation. So they set to work to rebuild the membership and to start providing many of the amenities which we see today. November 1968 saw Ron Bencher elected as President and, backed by a very energetic committee, they were able to turn the membership situation round in a remarkably short time. By the early 1970's membership had increased to a healthy 136 adults with no less than 60 children.
Bert supported the club in every way that he could until his death in 1985. With his passing we lost one of New Zealand's great naturist pioneers - a sad day for members of A.S.C in particular and for all the country's naturists.
By 1969 the club had lots of new members, but access via a steep muddy drive was quite difficult. So the next major project was to lay two concrete strips down the full length of the drive.
The early 1970's saw the club with its greatest number of members and a truly remarkable sense of purpose. Trips to other clubs and other venues were wonderfully supported. On the club grounds 'camp-ins' brought the members together, volleyball flourished and a very well earned reputation for terrific 'afternoon teas' was established.
About this time, Ron Rencher presented the AGM with a design for a new clubhouse. By this time the original clubhouse built by Bert Brittain was hopelessly inadequate and had in fact been condemned by the local council. The new design was a very ambitious undertaking for such a small club. The design was modular and the intention was that the new clubhouse would be built in three stages, as and when finances became available.
By 1972 our plastic pool was showing signs of wear, so come the autumn a start was made on a more permanent concrete pool. This time a motorised digger was brought in to excavate the much bigger hole, which was needed. Members showed what could be achieved if everyone pitched in to help. Indeed the winter's work involved 26 weekends on the trot and gave rise to dire threats of divorce as the maintenance of private homes languished.
While this all involved a lot of hard work, the members still found time for other occupations. A favourite outing was to the beach at Pakiri. Our friendly local farmer, Ed, allowed access to the beach through his property. He would load up all our gear onto his tractor and take it over the sand dunes to the beach. This was a lovely, though wild, beach where it was possible to swim nude. It could also be dangerous and on one occasion we were close to losing one of our members and her daughter in the sea. A gallant rescue by another member averted tragedy and after that we all took a great deal more care when in the tide. Another favourite was a camping trip to an old gold mine in Thames, each year we would try our luck to find some gold, the only thing we found was a lot of fun.
In 1978 the club was represented by no less than four members on the National body. Ron Rencher became the National President, his wife Hanna was the Women's Representative, Mike Ganley became Editor of the New Zealand Naturist, and Ray Woolhouse took over as Business Manager of this magazine. These were indeed heady days!

Steve Brown & Ron Bencher

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