Death in the Stars: A Very British Eclipse

 

Today, we're bringing back Femmes Fatales favorite, Frances Brody. Frances writes  historical novels set in post World War I Britain, featuring Kate Shackelton. In Death in the Stars, Kate is caught up in the eclipse fever that grips in the nation in 1927. Beloved theater star Selina Fellini approaches trusted sleuth Kate Shackleton to accompany her to a viewing party on the grounds of Giggleswick School Chapel. Kate suspects an ulterior motive.

During the eclipse, Selina's friend and co-star Billy Moffatt disappears and is later found dead in the chapel grounds. Kate can't help but dig deeper and soon learns that two other members of the theater troupe died in similarly mysterious circumstances in the past year. With the help of Jim Sykes and Mrs Sugden, Kate sets about investigating the deaths -- and whether there is a murderer in the company.

When Selina's elusive husband Jarrod –- who was injured in the war and is subject to violent mood swings - comes back on the scene Kate begins to imagine something far deadlier at play, and wonders just who will be next to pay the ultimate price for fame.

Death in the Stars debuts in the US this week. Today, Frances tells us how literary stars handled the 1927 eclipse. Take it away, Frances!

                                                                         -- Elaine Viets.

 

 A Very British Eclipse

At 10 p.m. on Tuesday, 28 June, 1927, Virginia Woolf, her husband, Leonard, and several pals set off from King’s Cross on board one of the long trains bound for Richmond, Yorkshire. At 3 a.m., after a stop at York, they ate sandwiches from the china sandwich box. The train arrived in Richmond at about 3:30 a.m. Here, they transferred to an omnibus that would take them to Barden Fell, the highest point of Barden Moor. They passed a vast castle, where lights glowed in a window. Virginia Woolf was noticing the little farms.

What drew this literary clan from their comfortable London drawing rooms to the wild moors of Yorkshire was the hope of witnessing the total eclipse of the sun. Solar physics was in its infancy. There had not been a total eclipse over the British mainland for 203 years, and there would not be another until 1999.

Hundreds of thousands of people were on the move, travelling by trains, cars, motorcycles, bicycles and on foot to the recommended viewing points.  On the railways alone 200,000 people booked seats on special and ordinary trains. Five hundred students from Merseyside Schools boarded a ferry which would be moored at Formby Lighthouse. Fires were lit on the beaches. People camped out on the moors overnight.   

Parties, suppers and all sorts of celebrations were held on the eve of the eclipse. In the Irish Sea, passengers on the crowded Isle of Man-Liverpool ferry danced the night away. Harry Craddock, famous bartender at the Savoy Hotel, had returned to Britain when the USA went dry. He claimed to have stirred the last legal cocktail in New York. Now he created an Eclipse Cocktail. Grenadine became the background of a burnished sky. Gin and lemon provided a corona of light around the olive that stood in for the sun.

The 29-mile wide path of totality extended from the coast of North Wales in the west to the Lancashire coast in the east. The British Astronomical Society, in conjunction with the Royal Society and Ordnance Survey, had long been planning for this event. The chosen observation station for Sir Frank Dyson, Astronomer Royal, was the grounds of Giggleswick School Chapel, near Settle, Yorkshire.

Astronomers set up their instruments. The BBC was on hand to check whether an eclipse affected sound waves. The Daily Mail chartered a plane for use by the Astronomical Society, to observe and photograph the eclipse from above the clouds. Newsreel reporters and cameras were on hand. 

The forecast was for cloud. Very early that morning, astronomers, school staff, boys and visitors went into the Giggleswick Chapel. They prayed that the clouds would part at the right moment. Prayers were answered. Miraculously, the clouds parted at twenty-three minutes and thirty seconds after five o’clock. Those people in the grounds of Giggleswick School Chapel witnessed the eclipse, and so did Virginia Woolf and friends on Barden Fell.

Not everyone was so lucky. Mist, rain and clouds created poor visibility on Mount Snowdon in Wales. When the great moment came, "the drenched spectators facetiously produced their smoked glasses, and in a spirit of unquenchable humour stared solemnly at the dark."

When researching the 1927 eclipse for Death in the Stars, I read two scrapbooks kept at Giggleswick School. Their creator, Thomas Brayshaw, gathered a treasure trove of eclipse memorabilia, letters, cuttings, and photographs. He was not entirely satisfied with his collection. He wanted a particular magazine and was unable to obtain a copy. He regretted his choice of scrapbooks. His note for future generations stated that had he known how much interest there would be, he would have bought better quality scrapbooks.

Mr. Brayshaw, don’t be apologetic. The scrapbooks fascinate. Your memorabilia stands the test of time.

Virginia Woolf and party returned to London by 8 p.m. that Wednesday evening. Theirs was a special train. The fare for the excursion was 18 shillings each.

 

Comments

[Marcia Talley]

I LOVE this Frances! Half the fun of writing, at least for me, is the research. One can get lost it in!

[Frances Brody]

You're right Marcia, it was such fun! People are so generous, too. The school archivist took me on a walk, and imparted all sorts of titbits. Virginia Woolf used to stay in Giggleswick village when visiting a relative who worked at the school.

[Elaine Viets]

Loved how the British very calmly traveled long distance to observe this phenomenon -- and then carried on. Congratulations on your new book.

[Frances Brody]

Thanks, Elaine. There was one man who drove for miles, stopped by the side of the road for a nap, and slept through.

[Elaine Viets]

The poor guy!

[Peter Sharp]

A yellow sign like the one illustrated was laying about in the dust in the Central Garage in the market place for all the years I worked there.
Don't know where it ended up.
I spoke to a man in Malham about
1970 who had cycled from Lincoln to see it , he slept out on Malham Moor along with thousands of others

[Elaine Viets]

And now the mystery is solved. Thanks for stopping by, Peter.

[Frances Brody]

Peter, that was quite a cycle ride, from Lincoln. An amazing experience for people. I suppose you would still talk about it 40+ years on.