Viewing the 1999 solar eclipse in the UK

[almostwitty]

So back in 1999, one part of the UK was gripped with total solar eclipse fever – that part being Cornwall.

Since I’ve been a boy, I’ve always wanted to “see” a total solar eclipse. So I had to pay £150 (a lot of money for a young adult on his second job) to go on the “Eclipse Express” – in reality, a slow train that took 6 hours to get to Cornwall from London, and had to leave at 0300.

So thus I arrived in Cornwall without much money and no sleep at 0830 – only to realise it was very very cloudy and we couldn’t really see anything at all.

Nevertheless we made our way to a local park that overlooked the sea and watched the sea and clouds as it got darker, and darker, and darker. Birds stopped twittering, it got colder and the bloody street lights came on. In the distance we could see the sun reflected in the sea as it got darker. Then it was all over, and I had to kill time in Cornwall before the train back. In hindsight, I should have just stayed in the pub.

Still, the next major US total eclipse is in 2024 …

Mirrored from almost witty.

Comments

[matgb]

Heh, should've gone to Devon, we had a bright sunny day, was working in a tourist destination for my summer job, we had to get everyone together, issue glasses and generally make sure kids were safe but able to see it, there were some clouds but it was mostly clear.

Honestly though? You didn't actually miss much, the darkness at the wrong time and the wildlife reaction is the big thing, the sun itself isn't much to look at during it.