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Solar Eclipse! (12th August 2026)

 


I had never seen a partial solar eclipse in my life before - let alone a full one. Then yesterday for the first time, I saw a 96% solar eclipse and it's made my year. Really.

I just happened to be here in West England; right place, right time. Lucky me. And it was spectacular. I was bowled over. 

However, at the end of the most beautiful and wondrous day of probably my whole life (to date), a couple of older guys I was with told me they were actually "disappointed". They actually used that word: Disappointed. Their word not mine. I was shocked, I couldn't believe it. "Why??" I asked. Turns out they'd seen the solar eclipse in 1999. "It was way better," they said. I must say, I was a bit miffed by that. I mean, come on guys, you're not judging a light show or a firework display!! 

1999. Some of us weren't even alive back then. Here, I have to interject with an existentialism moment. I mean, to think that all of life and the universe was merrily carrying on way before I was even conceived is, well frankly, mind blowing to me. It's inconceivable (pun intended). It blew my mind when I was a kid and it still does. I'm sure most, if not all of you have got your head around that already. Not me. I'm like that when I walk around or in old buildings, castles, palaces and things. Call me an arrogant so-and-so but I can't think how the world and universe could have possibly even functioned without me physically present on Earth. But don't hold this against me and please don't waste your time analysing it. Let's just agree to leave it where it lays. And so moving on...

My experience was that the birds did go a bit crazy before the eclipse; the seagulls and sparrows flew around rapidly and started a real racket. A dog started barking like mad and a baby burst loudly into tears for no apparent reason. As the sun gradually began getting covered, all of that very quickly and magically stopped and it became eerily silent and still. It got a lot cooler too. Now, I'm not the kind of guy that gets spooked easily or if ever, but seriously, I felt a subtle tingling-like sensation as the hairs on my arms stood up. It was an emotional moment for everyone. No one spoke. 

Then it got dark. Not 100% dark, like it did in Spain though. It was as though the sun had just set so some light remained. It seemed to last a long time, in my opinion. As the sun began appearing again, birds started chirping again and everything returned to normal.

I have to add that for the past few days, when the sea is at high tide, the tide has been unusually high and that is still the case as I speak. All that is to do with the moon of course, but when the eclipse happened, the moon was at full new moon. That was a bonus, I think.

By the way and finally, the advice on the news was: if you don't have those special Eclipse Glasses, you can use a colander against a white background or piece of paper and safely see the eclipse that way. Yeah, please Don't try that at home... Because it does not work!

And I know because out of curiosity I did a quick experiment just as the moon took the first 'nibble' of the sun. I gave it a good try for ten whole minutes but I got nothing. I don't know what muppet - sorry, expert scientist - thought of that. Here's my proof:

Just get those glasses - for the next partial eclipse. It's worth it. Positively life changing even. Personally, I am very tempted to become an eclipse chaser and see it some where for 100%. It would also be a great way to see parts of the world at the same time, wouldn't it? 

Wolf Winship

PS: I hope y'all got to see the eclipse wherever you were. Whether you did or didn't, here is a quick stock pictures of a full eclipse:




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