Raffle

The Ayre from St Ninian's Isle in the Shetland Islands , the largest tombolo in the United Kingdom

A tombolo (plur. Tomboli ) is a strip of dunes that connects an island with the mainland and thus makes a peninsula , or connects two islands with each other. Tomboli are caused by sedimentation caused by estuaries, coastal currents and breakwaters in the island's surroundings.

The 30 kilometer long Adams Bridge , which connected Sri Lanka (Ceylon) to India via the Palk Strait , was previously the world's largest tombolo. It was destroyed a few thousand years ago by a change in mean sea level, and only a chain of sandbars remains today. In contrast, Chesil Beach in Dorset is not a real raffle. On the Northern Isles in Scotland , raffles are known as Ayres (Old Norse Eyrr - pebble beach). Most are made of materials that are coarser than sand, including gravel. The Ayre of Isle St Ninians is the largest active raffle.