Photograph of the week: Fairy Glen, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK

Some say fairies created this dramatic, and unusual, landscape. They even say the fairies still live here, hiding in the crevices…

The Isle of Skye is certainly rich in faerie lore. And the miniature landscape of grassy, cone-shaped hills and whimsical rock spirals at Fairy Glen, Isle of Skye, is certainly magical-looking – you can easily picture the fairy-folk feeling right at home here. In this particular instance, however, there is no documented folklore linking the land here to the realm of myth and magic. There have been no actual sightings of fairies. Yet.

In a far more practical explanation of the rock formations found at Fairy Glen, these unique geological formations are actually the result of a landslip, triggered by volcanic activity on northern Skye about 60 million years ago. Authorities estimate that at one time the lava that covered northern Skye was more than 1,200m thick. The end result of all this flow of geological material?…