Alastair Choat/Coach and HorsesHave you ever been sipping a pint in a pub and thought, ‘Do you know what would make this taste that little bit better? If everyone was naked…’?
Nope, me neither. If that thought has, for some reason, entered your mind at any point then you’ll be pleased to know that a naked friendly pub now exists – and it’s in London.
The Coach and Horses in Soho has become the first pub in London to be granted a nudist licence. Although before you get too excited it will be for pre-arranged special occasions.
Google MapsAs reported by CNN Travel, the nudist license came about when landlord Alastair Choat decided to start a campaign to fight off an upcoming takeover by Fuller’s, a London brewery which has owned the pub since 2011 and – according to Choat – doesn’t plan to renew his lease.
In order to raise money for this campaign, Choat and his staff members decided to produce a nude calendar – something which required permission from local authorities to strip inside the pub. ‘You have to apply for a special notice,’ Choat explained.
With the launch of the calendar came requests from naturists around the world asking whether the pub was now welcoming nudists, a request that the landlord just couldn’t ignore.
Alastair Choat/Coach and HorsesHence why The Coach and Horses is now planning a nude night, whereby any nudity will be pre-arranged and will take place in a consensual environment.
Choat explained:
We are going to be planning, in June, a nude night. [We] haven’t got the exact date yet, but that’s what’s going be happening, so that all these people phoning up wanting to get naked and have a pint in the center of Soho will be able to do so.
You do have to have the right staff on, because obviously the team have to be comfortable with it. But to be honest with you, when you do these things, after 10, 15, 20 minutes no one notices anymore.
It’s a bit like you go to a pub where there’s a band playing and you not very interested in it, after a while it’s just background music. If everyone’s naked it’s going to be hilarious, it will be very funny.
Alastair Choat/Coach and HorsesThe landlord says he has been fighting for the pub to remain independent in recent years, and has even launched a petition to do so.
Currently London’s first vegan and vegetarian pub, the achievement has now been extended to be the capital’s first nudist pub.
Well, hats off (and clothes off) to Choat for his innovative thinking.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).