The Fossil Beds

Just before the Storr Rock the A855 Portree to Staffin road passes the Storr Lochs, which are Loch Fada and Loch Leathan.

Loch Leathan was dammed as part of a hydro electric scheme which opened in 1952.

The power station is hidden away on the beach below the cliffs at the end of Loch Leathan. The water from the lochs pours from the dam down two huge pipes, through the power station turbines and exhausts into the sea.

The power station is the site of Skye's only railway. This is not open to the public but is for the benefit of the power station engineers. A car restrained by a cable runs down tracks (at a hair-raising angle) from the winding house at the top to the power station at the bottom.

At one time it was possible to descend to the beach via the concrete steps running alongside the track. There were over 600 of them!

Nowadays the steps are closed to the public, I believe as a result of health and safety legislation, i.e. the power company does not want to get sued if you fall off their steps. However, access to the beach is now possible by a recently constructed and very steep path to the shore.

From there it is possible to walk along the beach (and past a ruined croft) for about half a mile to the base of cliffs which are rich in fossils, particularly, ammonites.

Descending from the dam to the power station. The fossil beds are at the light coloured cliff in the distance
Descending the path.The hydro electric pipes and the funicular railway can be seen in the background

The steps and the railway line
This was a spectacular waterfall before the dam was built and the stream diverted into the pipes

On the beach, with the hydro electric station in the background
On the beach,

Traces of an ammonite may be seen in this brown sea washed rock
The outline of an ammonite in a rock from the fossil beds, now in my "trophy cupboard!"

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Descending from the dam to the power station. The fossil beds are at the light coloured cliff in the distance	Descending the path.The hydro electric pipes and the funicular railway can be seen in the background

The steps and the railway line	This was a spectacular waterfall before the dam was built and the stream diverted into the pipes

On the beach, with the hydro electric station in the background	On the beach,

Traces of an ammonite may be seen in this brown sea washed rock	The outline of an ammonite in a rock from the fossil beds, now in my "trophy cupboard!"