I have blogged 24 picture with brief titles at https://grahamellis.uk/blog2051.html showing things I noticed.  Many are transport related, so sharing here. Although no longer a Town Councillor, I retain an interest in transport, environment and planning.   And I thank goodness that I have been able to let others pick up entertainment, parks, dog exercise, splash features, and food and drink and am now purely a user / consumer of those.

 
Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to severe weather between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
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What has happened?
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The extreme heat that is forecast for today can lead to an increase in points failures.
Points are the moving pieces of metal that enable trains to change tracks.
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What are we doing about it?
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To reduce the risk of this happening, a number of points will be set for one route and not moved, protecting the route to and from London Paddington.

 

As far as I can see - not quite as usual.  The cancellation of the local services withdraws almost all services (certainly daytime ones) at Avoncliff, Dilton Marsh and Freshford.   Correct in the circumstances, the Cardiff to Portsmouth trains will be making extra calls at  Avoncliff and Frsehford.  However, it appear that they are not calling at Dilton Marsh - at least according to JourneyCheck.  Which is an oddly unbalanced decision, considering that the walking area catchment of Dilton Marsh probably exceeds the walking area catchment of Freshford and Avoncliff combined.

 

Similarly the joke about the fallout from the long predicted massive Cumbre Vieja (La Palma) rockslide; 'A tsunami hit Plymouth yesterday, causing an estimated £15 million worth of improvements."

 
An eclipse of some sort would now have a 'tick' against it on my bucket list if I actually had one. Agreed that it didn't score particularly highly on the spectacular scale. The expected Sound Of Silence was completely ruined by Gulls & Magpies, which creatures frequently invade our peace and quiet around here.

We were on the lower slopes of Mount Teide in Tenerife for the 1999 eclipse but had no idea it was happening. Didn't matter because most of the island was shrouded in thick cloud.

 
Yes, underwhelming here as well.
A bit less sun, cooler.  Then dusk!
Agree with Marlburian as well.

 

I noted that too as a potential solution to a problem I have had buying online - where I have known the ticket I need, but struggled to find a train to which it applies.  That may sound odd - but if I want to go from - say A to C with a break of journey in B, I may well know (because I'm a sad geek) the best fare, but there may not be any specific / individual train and connections that would normally offer it on the routing I want because it's always quicker direct from A to C, not going via B.

As I understand it - and I have not looked in detail - BRFares is unlikely to be able to offer quotaed fares on specific trains such as Advance fares.

 
Me too!

The old timetables particularly.

 
At least I didn't miss this one. I was poorly and slept through 1999's total eclipse.

No eyewear to look directly at this one. I did the colander trick to show Mum, then headed out with Finn. It was like a very quick dusk coming down. We had some cirrocumulus here in Taunton that crossed the path of the sun during the eclipse.

Best I could do with my phone...

 

While the Bristol Waterloos were valued seven days a week, the argument that they'd be particularly appreciated as a mitigation for the impact of HS2 work on the GWML was, I think, made - and like all the other representations, duly ignored.

I still recall the ire with which two (women) members of the public left that Trowbridge meeting half way through - their internal 'We're never going to be listened to here' klaxon had rung loud and clear.

The DfT probably weren't expecting the blowback that they experienced as a result of their decision but they weren't going to budge.

Mark

 
Similar will also happen between Christmas and New Year.

 

You monkey, II. 

 

They did something like that over xmas (2024?)... but it looks like this work requires closure right out to Maidenhead.

It's the sort of situation where a Bristol-Waterloo service would be perfect!

 
It appears, Hafren, that BRFares.com now offers that "buy a ticket now" functionality. I haven't tried it yet.

 
For anyone planning ahead for 2081, I can report that the colander approach was only partly successful. I was eventually able to work out that I needed a greater distance from it to the piece of paper I used as a screen in time for the peak eclipse, and the diffusion of light around the edge of the moon diminished the effect of the claimed 90%+ eclipse by increasing the extent of apparent uncovered sun.

Here in the Goring Gap there was a considerable reduction in light levels, and a very welcome dip in the temperature.

 
Just a slight dimming here in Tilehurst. Had  I not been waiting for it, I probably wouldn't have noticed a thing.

 

Special effect graphics worthy of "Eric" on Ask the Family!

 
RMT are moving into dispute with GWR over a breach of Health and Safety regarding 175s.

 
We took a look from the top of the road in an area with 95/96% totality.  The most interesting aspect was the strange quality of the fast fading light but even at only 4-5% of the evening sun, I didn't get dark.  We didn't manage to get any suitable eclipse specs so Sally, my other half, armed herself with a colander from the kitchen and a sheet of white paper which sort of worked. 
Still, enjoyed a conversation with another couple who chose the same vantage point as ourselves and was quite impressed with a the effort made by a considerable gathering of people I spotted on a nearby hilltop....hope it was worth the effort.

 
A route between the GWML eastbound at Old Oak Common, and eastbound on the West Coast Main Line - it physically exists? But perhaps not for passenger use or not cleared for Class 80x for some reason?

Mark

 
Just in case anyone missed it......

 
Well, that was interesting, I thought. 94% was a bit dimmer than I expected, but in terms of quality it was as much a modified dusk as an eclipse. Rather like the sun setting into a thick bank of cloud. I could see the whole thing trough an upstairs window, using my 1999 eclipse specs, and up to the interesting bit standing at the back door (but only because I'd cut down some bits of shrub and tree).

The light afterwards never did really return to being full sunlight, as it was already being modified by dusk. But it did turn off the porch light, which had come on as it thought it got proper dark.

Rather optimistically, I tried to get a photo with my "ordinary" camera and the very very dark glasses. Earlier in the day it was hopeless, as the camera insisted on focusing on the filter. But around gloomax there wasn't enough light on the filter for that, and the geometry was straighter, so I did in fact get a little image of sorts.

 

And the same on Saturday 28th, and no trains using Paddington either day. The EAS, oddly, does not show (that I can see) possessions over all that time to justify that closure, but does have this cryptic note:
WORK DETAILS = MAINTENANCE. HS2 EXTENDED ALB AND 29HR 2TT

I take it that's an HS2 all line block, for something or other, and advantage is being taken of this for extended maintenance possessions. I just can't see any of those, only overnight ones that happen most weekends. Odd.

 
Through an aluminium pinhole on to a white tee-shirt.

 

Looks like it was brought under control before it caused thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

 
Hourly service only TRU - FAL on Thu 13 Aug 2026 due heat related weather disruption.

 
Buses replace trains throughout Thu 13 Aug 2026 due heat related weather disruption.

 
Posting here from my desk in the South-facing study in our house in Nailsea, I can say that I was very underwhelmed at this eclipse.

I noticed a slight reduction in the exterior daylight, and there were just a few squawking birds flying about - but that was about it, really.

Chris from Nailsea.

 

Looking at the generation curves, solar does have a small bite taken out at its right-hand foot. But it has already dropped well down its cosine hump by then, so it would not matter a lot. With so little wind today there is a big CCGT intake in the mix and, with cross-channel, a missing 1 GW or so will barely register.

 
21:20 Westbury to Chippenham due 22:01
An additional bus service has been planned to operate as shown 21:20 Westbury to Chippenham due 22:01.
Further Information

Due   Station   Status
21:20   Westbury   21:20
21:32   Trowbridge   21:32
21:45   Melksham   21:45
22:01   Chippenham   22:01

23:20 Chippenham to Westbury due 00:03
An additional bus service has been planned to operate as shown 23:20 Chippenham to Westbury due 00:03.
Further Information

23:20   Chippenham   23:20
23:36   Melksham   23:36
23:51   Trowbridge   23:51
00:03   Westbury   00:03