The 1999 occasion became even more memorable for the local former teacher, as Mrs Walden was photographed enjoying the moment with her children, friends and visiting family, and their picture appeared on the front page of the Guernsey Press the following day.
‘It was a great photograph,’ she said. ‘And it caused great excitement with our little group to see it in the paper and relive it all.’
Mrs Walden was joined by her niece Jenny, who was 15 at the time and visiting from England, her daughters Harriet and Sophie – who were nine and 12 – one of their friends, work colleague Martin Mitchell.
‘We were kind of an eclectic group,’ she said.
‘I remember it was earlier in the day last time, and lots of people were working. But I was in teaching, so I was off on summer holidays. My memory is that we all walked from the Tertre Lane in the Vale, through the lanes to L’Ancresse. And we found ourselves up a raised mound near the 15th hole, and we waited. It was cloudy, I remember that, but it did go dark and there was an eerie sense about everything. The birds went quiet, it was really special. It’s such a memorable event, lots of people were going up to Alderney and people were gathering around the coast. It was nice to be part of. And I’m really looking forward to it this time.’
More than a quarter of a century later, Mrs Walden and her fellow eclipse-watchers have their protective glasses ready – although the group will be more spread out this year.
‘We’re all going to in different places, but we’re all excited to see it again,’ she said.
This year, Mrs Walden plans to watch from the water.
‘There’s a special sea swim from Portelet Beach to L’Eree car park, and we’re all going for a curry at the Taste of India afterwards,’ she said.
‘They do this swim every year, and I think they hadn’t realised when they booked it that it was going to be the eclipse. It will be quite interesting, though.’