History of Ridgewood Sun
Club....
The club was formed by group of campers
that met at the Angel hotel in Bath to form a naturist club in March 1950.
A site was rented from a farmer near Emborough in the Mendip area of
Somerset and the Mendip Sun Club came into being.
After the death of
the farmer in the winter of 1953 the club lost the site and were forced to
start searching for a new site to relocate the club. Following an advertisement
in Farmers Weekly, an old, overgrown, garden nursery on a wooded hillside
between Portishead and Clevedon near Bristol was bought by Bill the and his
wife Mary, the club moved there in May 1954.
There
followed years of work to clear the site of trees and undergrowth, work
hampered by the presence of many snakes.
Most weekends
Bill would cycle from Bristol towing a trailer, not many people
had cars then, with a tent to provide some shelter. Mary and the
children would take the bus to the nearest bus stop at the
bottom of the steep hillside and walk up to the site. Eventually
a trench was dug by hand up the rocky hillside to provide a
water supply, the old small wooden pavilion was recovered from
the original site, games and sunbathing areas were levelled, a
splash pool was dug.
Splash pool cica 1959
In 2009 Ridgewood sun
club became a limited company this has helped secure our future
all land and assets are owned by the company for its members.
Bill sadly passed away in 2010
It was his families wish
for his ashes be buried at Ridgewood.
We would like to add to this
page if you are a past member with any information or
have any old photographs we can use then please
get in touch.
Below Ridgewood circa
1959 formally known as Mendip sun club
If you can shed any light on
the Article above like what publication it was in if you
know or have an original copy or you are in one of the
pictures please contact the club secretary.
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