Posted on 01/23/2004 4:39:05 AM PST by martin_fierro
Nude hiker covers the length of Britain
Thu Jan 22, 4:40 PM ET
LONDON (AFP) - A hiker completed his naked quest to walk the entire length of Britain wearing nothing but a pair of boots and a rucksack on his back, reaching John O'Groats on the northern tip of Scotland to a rapturous welcome from local residents.
Over the course of his 1,450-kilometre (900-mile) journey from Lands End on England's south coast, Steve Gough, 44, has been arrested numerous times, has made several court appearances and has served two jail sentences.
"My body is part of me and it's not shameful -- it's who I am," Gough said shortly before completing his seven-month challenge at mainland Britain's northernmost point.
Undertaken as a human rights protest, Gough decided to walk from one end of Britain to the other in order to celebrate the naked human form, and to try to convince the public to stop being "paranoid" about the naked body.
"This is just one step in the whole process of making people aware about our bodies because we are so paranoid about them," Gough said Thursday just short of John O'Groats where a team of local residents had come out to cheer him on.
The former marine and lorry driver from Eastleigh in southern England said he was planning to stay the night in John O'Groats before putting his clothes back on and heading south.
He's probably out of breadth.
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