Solar Eclipse, northern Scotland – worth waking up early for!

The little village of Durness on the north coast of Scotland had never seen anything like it. All accommodation was booked up for weeks in advance. As we woke at 4am on a crisp May morning, we strode out behind our cottage onto the ridge overlooking the sea. We were in a crowd of around 100 people who were buzzing with excitement, and holding on hopefully to their £2 Eclipse Viewers.
At the appointed time, 4.42, we looked to the eastern horizon hoping to catch a glimpse of the sun as it rose. This was not a total solar eclipse, but an annular one – where the moon is not quite near enough to block out the entire disc of the sun and so leaves a circle, or “ring of fire” as it is described. 4.42 came and went with the sun sadly hidden behind the morning mist, but around two minutes later we caught first sight of the sun; a pale, barely discernable red ring emerging from the haze. Second by second it became brighter, and within a couple of minutes we could see a beautiful crescent sun (as in the picture) casting an eeire light over the beach and the calm sea beyond.
We are yet to see a total eclipse, and will choose a more reliably sunny location for that trip, but this experience certainly whet the appetite to do it.