BIRDS fell silent, the temperature dropped and traffic dwindled, as an eerie darkness descended on the island on the morning of Wednesday 11 August 1999.
The following day’s Guernsey Press devoted four pages of broadsheet coverage to the much anticipated total eclipse, with the front page headline, ‘Once in a thousand years and it’s cloudy’, providing a sense of the disappointment the day’s weather had brought.
But with 100% totality in Alderney and 99.9% in the other islands, the northern isle was the top place to be for serious eclipse viewers and the thousands who had flooded the island let out a cheer as a well-timed gap in the clouds in the final moments of totality revealed the famous diamond ring effect.
The BBC switched part of its live coverage to Alderney and hundreds of people who had headed to Devon and Cornwall for the event made last-minute attempts to get to the island in pursuit of better weather, but were left frustrated as boats were full.
Amateur and professional astronomers gathered at Fort Albert, with Guernsey astronomer David Le Conte describing it as a ‘very emotional experience’.
Back in Guernsey, Town businesses came to a halt as hundreds of shoppers, shop workers and office staff flocked to the seafront to watch the astronomical spectacle.
However, some parents opted to stay inside for the sake of their children.
‘I was just so worried about damaging their eyes,’ said one.
Town Carnival organisers made the most of the extra crowds and put on a fireworks display over Castle Cornet, although some spectators complained it was difficult to see the daylight display and said it should have been timed to coincide with totality.
L’Ancresse Tower No 5 owner Nancy Dorey opened her tower to the public to allow people to enjoy the ‘marvellous view’ from it.
Pembroke slipway kiosk owner Lynne de Carteret made the most of islanders’ lack of planning by selling eclipse glasses on the day and said she had sold out ‘within minutes’.
Guernsey Brewery also sold out of a specially-brewed Eclipse Ale.
A party of 80 people enjoying a champagne barbecue at Pembroke even managed to be enthusiastic about the cloud cover, since it allowed them to ‘pretty much watch the eclipse without the glasses’.
Phil Martin made the most of the eclipse by proposing to his girlfriend, Linda Girard, as they watched from the grounds of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
‘It was the most romantic moment of my life,’ she said afterwards.
The next total solar eclipse in the Channel Islands is due in 2081, but there will be plenty more partial eclipses like this year’s in the meantime.
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