Eclipse in The View from the Terrace

This morning there was a near total eclipse over the UK. Here it was about 86%. I wish I had known about it earlier as I didn’t have time to buy some special glasses but it was still quite an experience. We tried holding up a colander as suggested but it didn’t work very well, but reflecting the sun through a mirror onto the wall was quite good. But it was the change in atmosphere that was most affecting. The light from the sun started to get dimmer and it was noticably cooler and there was a kind of stillness.

It all made me think of 1999 and the total eclipse in Cornwall. We and thousands of others went down to Cornwall to see it. We stayed on a little caravan park and had intended to go to a local place where people were gathering but Cat wasn’t ready in time so we ended up just staying in the caravan park. It was amazing. We didn’t actually see much of the sun as it was very cloudy but I remember it getting darker and suddenly it was almost like night or very dark twilight, it turned cold and the birds stopped singing. There was that same atmosphere of stillness that I felt today only stronger.

I remember another partial eclipse when I was about 13. We were at school and we watched it through our navy blue cardigans! The teacher didn’t stop us. There was no health and safety back then.

Last updated June 10, 2015