Today in the UK we will have a partial solar eclipse and I was reminded of the total solar eclipse was had twenty seven years ago on the 11th August 1999.
At the time I was living in Bristol. There had been ample press coverage that there was going to be a solar eclipse, and this was the first visible eclipse in the United Kingdom since June 29, 1927.
However, the moon’s shadow was only going to cover parts of Cornwall and Devon. Bristol would see a partial eclipse, but I wanted to see the total eclipse.
I was up early and I drove off down the M5 towards Cornwall and Devon. Lots of other people had the same idea as me.
I stopped off at Exeter Services to check my map and see where I should go. I don’t remember where I got the map from, but it showed the path of the shadow across Devon and Cornwall. These were the days before ubiquitous sat nav. However I knew that I wasn’t going to make Cornwall, so I headed down towards the Torbay area. I was pleased when I realised I was in the path of the shadow. I kept going south though.
I ended up in Brixham. As would be expected there was no parking, and the time of the eclipse was nearing.
t was very strange, first with all the birds, and then suddenly it went very dark. Not pitch black as it is at night, but certainly dark to be very weird. Then the shadow passed and it was bright again.
As I had just stopped the car, I couldn’t explore Brixham or get a coffee, I also wanted to miss the crowds, so I got back in the car and headed home to Bristol. It was very busy getting out of Devon, but once I was on the M5, it was pretty straightforward to get home.
I was really pleased I had taken the plunge and driven down to Devon to see the eclipse, the next total solar eclipse visible from the UK will be in 2090.
