Millennium Holiday Memories

 

In 1999, we were on holiday in Newquay, early in August. There had been much publicity about the impending total eclipse of the sun, and speculation as to whether this heavenly event would be visible in Britain.

 

As August 8^th, the date of the eagerly awaited eclipse, drew closer, anticipation grew and grew. Special publications about it were prominent in many shops, with free sun-shields to protect the eyesight of viewers of this rare, natural phenomenon.

 

Our interest sharpened towards the day of the eclipse, and after breakfast on the 8^th we set off, none too hopefully, and followed the crowd towards a hill overlooking one of Newquay’s sandy bays. As the weather was dull, and drizzly, with heavier showers, no one thought that we had a remote chance of observing a spectacular eclipse.

 

The atmosphere on that hill-top as people watched and waited patiently was fascinating – and the camaraderie between the young and not-so-young was remarkable. We were all trying to keep dry, but not one person gave up hope of seeing what they had set out to see.

 

Suddenly, miraculously, we were rewarded; in the gloomy, eerie, pitch darkness, a patch of light appeared in the sky! People cheered, and this rose to a crescendo, as the sun emerged in crescent form at first. All around, we could see camera flashes, like a myriad of stars, as people captured these first moments. Gradually, the sun returned in its full glory; and I didn’t notice many in the crowd bothering to use the sun-shields, me included …

 

Later, it was all the more remarkable, as we learned that Newquay was indeed blessed to be one of the few places to have a sighting of the total eclipse!

 

So almost nine years on, I still feel fortunate to have been part of that event; unforeseen and unexpected, and yes, unforgettable.

 

Freda Rothwell