Stephen Gough Won't Stop Taking His Clothes Off...

Former Royal Marine Stephen Gough is also known as The Naked Rambler and in recent times has spent eight years in prison because he refuses to wear clothes in public.
Stephen does a lot of his nude treking with Melanie Roberts and together they appeared on a BBC documentary as they walked
from Lands End to John O'Groats.
Or was it the other way round.
Our nude recidivist has been described as a endearing and harmless man but to the authorities and the upholders of what is evidently right and decent, he's a big problem.
He won't wear clothes in court, spends time,
lots of it, in prison presumably clothed, and as soon as he's freed he takes them all off again.
Then he's arrested again and so it goes.
For a seemingly intelligent man who is obviously right at home in the great outdoors, you have to wonder why he doesn't find a nice piece of land where he can indulge his philosophy of  personal freedom instead of preferring it seems inhabiting the confines of Her Majesty's Penitentiary.
As a Naturist, it would be the last place in the world I'd want to be.
An update. The European Court of Human Rights has just rejected a case brought by Stephen Gough. He took Britain to the Strasbourg-based court on the grounds that his freedom of expression and right to respect for private life had been impinged.
The Naked Rambler said he was disappointed but vowed to continue with his lifestyle,
saying he was brought up to believe he lived in a country that celebrated eccentricity
and differences.
Without the freedom to express our individuality and uniqueness in our own way he said, something inside us dies...

Here's A Keep It Simple Stupid, Well Designed, Easy To Build Office, Sleepout, Spare Room Or Anything Garden Shed...

This is such a delightfully simple, easy and inexpensive shed to build.
You can build a KISS shed like this one in Hackney, on a limited budget and a short time frame. The simple framing timbers create ready made shelving and the shed is cladded with ply.
How simple is that.
The clear part of the roof allows natural light in and gives a welcome glimpse of the sky and the full-height doors retract and open completely allowing an unimpeded view of the outdoors.
Make it the right size and you'll probably get around any local planning restrictions too.
I'll see you at the shed party...

Camping And Caravanning. Images From Way Back When...

Oh yes those were the days some of you old enough to remember will be thinking right now.
These images, the first one has featured here before, come from around 1915 through to the late 1960's and remind us that what we're doing today is nothing new.
They had good ideas way back when too and while most didn't bring their plane with them, such a thing was possible.
They did things with style too in those days and getting away from it all was a lot simpler.
Then there was unemployed shipyard worker David Weatherhead from Sunderland who designed and built his one man caravan he travelled with while he looked for work.
He would have had a job just pulling it...

The Latest In Caravans Of The Future. The Yacht Inspired Caravisio Camper Concept...

No, this latest concept of a caravan for the future is definitely not my idea of something to get away in to commune with the great outdoors.
It's far removed from anything to do with nature and the environment. It's certainly got little or nothing to do with camping.
But it's the latest concept by German Caravan manufacturer Knaus Tabbert who's very aware of the declining caravan numbers in Europe.
So, in collaboration with twenty other industry experts, they drew inspiration from cruising yachts to design the Caravisio concept camper.
It's been on display at the 2013 Dusseldorf Caravan show and there's more
to see here and here.
Camping in the future will be a whole new concept. Whoopdeedoo... 

Airstream Shows Off Its Latest Deluxe Land Yacht Concept...

This is Airstream's latest concept for the 'discerning' buyer. By discerning, do they mean the person who has everything and now wants something else. I don't know, but this is their latest offering for the Getaway From It All market who wants to have all the comforts of home with them wherever they go.
It's probable that not many of today's version of Eddie Bauer's original are likely to ever go near the great outdoors and that's a shame.
This very latest Airstream Land Yacht is indeed beautiful and so it should be.
It's been designed in partnership with Mauro Micheli, the long-time designer for Riva Yachts.
There's more about this lovely Airstream here.
While the Airstream has always been the classic caravan or trailer that others have tried to emulate, somehow the 'discerning' buyer is missing out on so much by insisting on hi tech this and hi tech that.
Remember when life was simple and with back to basics there was so much less to go wrong and break down.
And less to go wrong made whatever you wanted to do, so much more enjoyable.
And the simple life was better than good...

Travelling In Style To Enjoy The Simple Life Way Back Then...

They dreamed a life and lived the dream of a simple life way back then too.
Their homes on wheels came in all shapes and sizes and in many different styles. Styles to suit.
But they all wanted the same thing.
To enjoy life in the great outdoors.
Even if they stayed indoors...

In Hong Kong People Are Packed Into Sardine Can Sized Apartments: Michael Wolf And His Architecture Of Density Images...

By choice I'm lucky to live in 131 square feet of house bus with all amenities and enjoy a good and healthy lifestyle. I'm very happy.
And then there's the great outdoors.
But the seven million residents or should I say Sardines of Hong Kong don't have very much choice at all.
For various reasons, only twenty three percent of the land is developed and of that, less than seven percent is used for housing.
This goes to make Hong Kong one of the most densly populated places on the planet.
Most of Hong Kong's resident sardines are packed into 6588 high rise buildings making New York pale into insignificence with only 5818 high rise residential shoeboxes.
The celebrated German photographer Michael Wolf, who you'll remember gave us Chinese Factory Workers and The Toys They Make published here late last year, has been putting his considerable talents to his Architecture of Density series of images, showing the living conditions of these people and how they live.
These people living in these claustrophobic residential cages are some of the lucky ones though.
There are others who live in far worse conditions.
You'll notice that neither sky nor land feature in these images.
Neither land nor sky feature in these people's lives...