This week
Next Wednesday, 12 August, is a big day for the sky. In the early evening the moon passes in front of the sun: from Norfolk it covers about 90% of it, from about 6.15pm until just after 8pm, at its deepest at about 7.10pm. Royal Museums Greenwich call it the best partial solar eclipse Britain has seen since 1999. The sun will be low in the west by then, so find somewhere with a clear view that way. Never look at the sun directly, even when most of it is covered: use proper eclipse glasses, or make a pinhole viewer with two pieces of card.
That same night the Perseid meteor shower peaks, and with a new moon the sky will be as dark as it gets: in ideal conditions you can see 50 to 100 meteors an hour. Give your eyes twenty minutes to adjust, lie back and look up. Wiveton Downs and Kelling Heath, both within fifteen minutes of the cottage, are Dark Sky Discovery Sites.
Also this weekend: Wells Carnival Day on Saturday 8 August, the last days of Sheringham Carnival, and Cromer RNLI Lifeboat Day on Sunday 9 August, 10am to 5pm, when both Cromer lifeboat stations open, with launches, displays and music. It’s free.
Looking ahead
- 15 to 21 August: Cromer Carnival.
- 21 August: Twelfth Night in the open air at Burnham Deepdale.
- 22 to 31 August: Festival on Rails on the Poppy Line.
- 28 August: a partial eclipse of the moon before dawn.