General Description |
Staffin (Scottish Gaelic: Stafain) is a district with the Gaelic name An Taobh Sear, which translates as 'the East Side', on the northeast coast of the Trotternish peninsula of the island of Skye. It is located on the A855 road about 17 miles (27 km) north of Portree and is overlooked by the Trotternish Ridge with the famous rock formations of The Storr and the Quirang. The district comprises 23 townships made up of, from south to north, Rigg, Tote, Lealt, Lonfearn, Grealin, Breackry, Cul-nan-cnoc, Bhaltos, Raiseburgh, Ellishader, Garafad, Clachan, Garros, Marrishader, Maligar, Stenscholl, Brogaig, Sartle, Glasphein, Digg, Dunan, Flodigarry and Greap. The Kilmartin River runs northwards through the village. From where it reaches the sea a rocky shore leads east to a slipway at An Corran. Here a local resident found a slab bearing a dinosaur track, probably made by a small ornithopod. Experts subsequently found more dinosaur prints of up to 50 cm, the largest found in Scotland, made by a creature similar to Megalosaurus. At about 160 million years old they are the youngest dinosaur remains to be found in Scotland. |