Skyecomuseum

RESILIENT tour bus drivers who braved high winds and hail showers have completed urgent path repairs at the Quiraing.
Staff from Rabbie’s Trail Burners spent two days working on badly-needed repairs to the route, which attracts thousands of people each year. Despite very tough weather conditions at the exposed site, seven hardy Rabbie’s drivers and office workers dug out a damaged and uneven section of path, created a stone-lined ramp, installed a culvert pipe and landscaped the area. The workers faced ...

STAFFIN residents are being invited to suggest a name for a new house currently being built in one of the district’s well-known crofting townships.
Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT) is constructing a three-bedroom affordable home in Flodigarry and is seeking ideas from the local community for a suitable name. 
The Staffin Community Trust and Flodigarry Township Trust’s preference would be for a Gaelic name, which would have some meaning to the locality in which the house lies. It is ...

STAFFIN Community Trust (SCT) has formally submitted a bid to purchase local authority-owned land at the Old Man of Storr. 
SCT has lodged an Asset Transfer Request (ATR) to Highland Council for a section of roadside ground near the popular island landmark so it can construct a new car park, public toilets and interpretation. It comes after several years of talks between SCT and the council, a major community consultation and the conclusion of a site options appraisal/business plan by a consultant ...

AN UPDATE about the proposed new affordable housing in Staffin will be provided this weekend.
Staffin Community Trust (SCT) is progressing plans for six new houses and business units at a site on common grazings tenanted by the Stenscholl Township. SCT is working in partnership with the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust and Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association to deliver the new affordable houses, which would be the first built in Staffin since 1999.
SCT and its partners are now working ...

AN OLD newsletter first printed in the early 1980s during the construction of Staffin Hall – the Co-Chomunn – has provided a snapshot of the community’s efforts into delivering the ambitious project.  ‘Mac-Talla’ was printed just before Christmas in 1982 to update Staffin residents about progress of the district’s new village hall, which included a shop, restaurant, crafts outlet and toilets.
It was a key period in the Co-Chomunn’s history, as Staffin led the way in Skye in coming together to form ...

SEVERAL native Gaelic voices from Staffin’s present have provided a revealing glimpse back at the district’s past in a series of newly-published recordings.
Staffin Community Trust/Urras an Taobh Sear teamed up with Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o’ Riches to capture the views, memories and thoughts of older members of our community in autumn last year. A range of subjects are discussed in the lively oral recordings which are now available on the SCT’s local history section.
Tobar an Dualchais is a ...

CONSTRUCTION work on a new affordable home in Flodigarry is progressing well and is expected to be completed in April.
And the owner, the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCT), is now advertising the three-bedroom house’s availability for “Rent to Buy”. This could offer first time buyers the opportunity to rent for five years before purchasing the house outright at a fixed price of £140,000. That is a 20 per cent discount from the open market price and people with local connections who make ...

UPDATES on the main Staffin Community Trust projects, a charity fundraiser for Syria, “Big Breakfast” fundraiser, latest gym classes and a lot more are published in the district’s bi-annual newsletter, which can be read by clicking on this link: Winter 2017 Staffin Newsletter
Hardcopies will also be made available at the Staffin Post Office, MacKenzie Stories, Staffin Stores, Columba 1400 and Staffin Primary School fin the next couple of days. 
 

A NEW teacher who has a memorable start to 2017 with a flit to Staffin is seeking accommodation for his young family. 
Stephen and wife Helen Atkins and their two sons are moving to Skye next month as he will be taking up a teacher’s post in Portree Primary, which will see him also work at Staffin and other schools on the island, as and when required.
The family are moving up from England and have family connections in Uist and have previously ...

FOLLOWING a hectic 2016 season Staffin businesses are in the midst of the busy festive run-in with only several days until Christmas.
Thirteen local businesses, including the two shops, craft outlets, cafes, accommodation, museum, gym, etc, are all now featured on the Staffin Community Trust’s online directory. It provides helpful information for what is on offer in Staffin for both visitors and locals and SCT has recorded heavy website traffic to the site this year, particulary from other parts of the ...

IT’S not quite a Christmas DVD…but a film featuring Staffin crofters at work – which was premiered last month – is a special release itself – and can now be watched online in time for the festive season.
And the successful production, which saw Staffin crofters and their collies wear GoPros to capture them gathering their stock on the Trotternish Ridge, is set to go to Holyrood, in 2017 for a screening at the Scottish Parliament before MSPs.


 “Grazing on the Edge” is a ...

STAFFIN Gym is celebrating a special milestone next month – its first birthday – and is stepping up its promotional efforts to attract locals and holidaymakers to get a sweat on.
The gym has become the 13th business to join the growing online directory aimed at showcasing the wide range of businesses in Staffin following a highly successful 12 months.
One in 10 Staffin residents are now card-carrying members at the gym, which was officially named Aurora Fitness by local school ...

A PRODUCTION company which regularly promotes the Taobh Sear’s unique scenery has made a donation to Staffin Community Trust following a recent shoot. 
Edinburgh-based LS Productions, which is the UK’s largest stills and motion service, has donated £100 towards SCT’s project work.

LS is a regular visitor to Staffin and the Storr and Quiraing feature heavily in its website.The company works on big advertising and filing campaigns for a range of companies and brands and was recently at Loch Mealt, Ellishadder, which is near the Kilt Rock.

A FASCINATING piece of Staffin’s wartime history has been uncovered –  instructions on what to do in the event of an “enemy invasion”.
The memo, labelled “Secret & Urgent”, was sent by a police chief to the Staffin Exchange – in May 1944 as the Second World War raged. At the time Britain was still a year away from the end of the war and the German surrender.  Eight men are listed on the Staffin and Valtos war memorials having died during ...

THERE was an encouraging local response to a Staffin Community Trust’s (SCT) consultation event which outlined the progress with the Old Man of Storr Project.
Around 30 people attended a drop-in event on November 5 – and also called in to the SCT office during the week afterwards, to view a summary of the options appraisal work carried out so far and a proposed site layout at the Highland Council-owned site at the Storr, which attracts thousands of people each year.