Ayre (landform)

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The Ness of Galtagarth is connected to the island of Yell by the Ayre of Galtigarth - a tombolo that separates the tidal Loch of Galtigarth (on the right) from the open sea Galtagarthayre.jpg
The Ness of Galtagarth is connected to the island of Yell by the Ayre of Galtigarth – a tombolo that separates the tidal Loch of Galtigarth (on the right) from the open sea

An ayre is the name used for shingle beaches found in Orkney, Shetland, the Isle of Man, Lancashire, Cumbria and Northumbria. [1] [2] The word is derived from the Old Norse eyrr, meaning a shingle beach or gravelly place, [3] and may be applied to ordinary beaches, cliff-foot beaches such as the Lang Ayre [4] in Northmavine, Shetland, spits, bars or tombolos, but only if formed of shingle.

More than 130 such shingle beaches are named on Ordnance Survey maps of Shetland, but far fewer in Orkney, where most beaches are formed of sand. The word in its Old Norse form is common in Iceland, and it also occurs in a few place names in the north and west of the Scottish mainland which had a strong Norse influence, such as Eriboll ("a homestead on a shingle beach") and in the names of several shingle banks—Salt Ayre, Green Ayre, Stake Ayre, Rabbit Ayre and Whinny Ayre—in the tidal reach of the River Lune at Lancaster.

Churchill Barrier number 4 in Orkney used a shingle spit, the Ayre of Cara on South Ronaldsay, as its southern landfall. This ayre is still named on maps, despite having all but vanished under the causeway and the sand dunes that have accumulated on its eastern side.

The term "ayre" is sometimes wrongly applied to sand tombolos (e.g. St. Ninian's tombolo in Shetland) and to the lakes and lagoons impounded by bay-head bars, which are more properly called oyce [5] in Orkney and houbs in Shetland.

The Ayres of Swinister, Shetland: two ayres (shingle bars) that enclose a houb (lagoon) Ayres of Swinister and the Houb, Shetland - 1902 O.S map.jpg
The Ayres of Swinister, Shetland: two ayres (shingle bars) that enclose a houb (lagoon)

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Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles off the north coast of Scotland. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, the Mainland, has an area of 523 square kilometres (202 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney's largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoy, Orkney</span> Island in the Orkney Islands group

Hoy is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring 143 square kilometres (55 sq mi) – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, the Ayre, links the island to the smaller South Walls; the two islands are treated as one entity by the UK census. Hoy is also the name of a hamlet in the northwest of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tombolo</span> Deposition landform in which an island is connected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus

A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian tombolo, meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ayre, is a deposition landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoal</span> Natural submerged sandbank that rises from a body of water to near the surface

In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or above it, which poses a danger to navigation. Shoals are also known as sandbanks, sandbars, or gravelbars. Two or more shoals that are either separated by shared troughs or interconnected by past or present sedimentary and hydrographic processes are referred to as a shoal complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spit (landform)</span> Coastal bar or beach landform deposited by longshore drift

A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift by longshore currents. The drift occurs due to waves meeting the beach at an oblique angle, moving sediment down the beach in a zigzag pattern. This is complemented by longshore currents, which further transport sediment through the water alongside the beach. These currents are caused by the same waves that cause the drift.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Burra</span> One of the Scalloway Islands, Shetland, Scotland.

West Burra is one of the Scalloway Islands, a subgroup of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. It is connected by bridge to East Burra. With an area of 743 hectares, it is the eleventh-largest of the Shetland Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Isles</span> Pair of archipelagos near Scotland

The Northern Isles are a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The climate is cool and temperate and highly influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands, with the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both archipelagos have a developing renewable energy industry. They share a common Pictish and Norse history, and were part of the Kingdom of Norway before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. The islands played a significant naval role during the world wars of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Ninian's Isle</span> Island in Shetland, United Kingdom

St Ninian's Isle is a small tied island connected by the largest tombolo in the UK to the south-western coast of the Mainland, Shetland, in Scotland. It is part of the civil parish of Dunrossness on the South Mainland. The tombolo, known locally as an ayre from the Old Norse for "gravel bank", is 500 metres long. During the summer the tombolo is above sea level and accessible to walkers. During winter, stronger wave action removes sand from the beach so that it is usually covered at high tide, and occasionally throughout the tidal cycle, until the sand is returned the following spring. Depending on the definition used, St. Ninian's is thus either an island, or a peninsula; it has an area of about 72 hectares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal geography</span> Study of the region between the ocean and the land

Coastal geography is the study of the constantly changing region between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography and the human geography of the coast. It includes understanding coastal weathering processes, particularly wave action, sediment movement and weather, and the ways in which humans interact with the coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point of Ayre</span> Human settlement in the United Kingdom

The Point of Ayre is the northernmost point of the Isle of Man. It lies at the northern end of Ramsey Bay 6 miles (10 km) north of the town of Ramsey. The point can be accessed by the A16 road from Bride. Point of Ayre lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the Isle of Man, is located here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayre</span> Sheading of the Isle of Man

Ayre is one of the six sheadings of the Isle of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Walls</span> Island of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK

South Walls is a tidal island or peninsula at the southern end of Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. It is connected to the main body of Hoy, and to the district of North Walls, by a thin neck of land known as the Ayre. Its largest settlement is Longhope, which lies on a long natural harbour of the same name. Both North and South Walls belong to the civil parish of Walls and Flotta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tied island</span> Island that is connected to land only by a tombolo

Tied islands, or land-tied islands as they are often known, are landforms consisting of an island that is connected to the mainland or another island only by a tombolo: a spit of beach materials connected to land at both ends. St Ninian's Isle in the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland is an example since it was once an island but is now linked to the mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tankerness</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Tankerness is a district in the St Andrews parish in Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. Essentially a peninsula, it is about 13 kilometres (8 mi) south-east of Kirkwall and 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) east of Kirkwall Airport. The origin of the place name is uncertain, but it may derive from the Norse personal name "Tannskári". A "ness" is a promontory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish island names</span>

The modern names of Scottish islands stem from two main influences. There are many names that derive from the Scottish Gaelic language in the Hebrides and Firth of Clyde. In the Northern Isles most place names have a Norse origin. There are also some island place names that originate from three other influences, including a limited number that are essentially English language names, a few that are of Brittonic origin and some of an unknown origin that may represent a pre-Celtic language. These islands have all been occupied by the speakers of at least three and in many cases four or more languages since the Iron Age, and many of the names of these islands have more than one possible meaning as a result.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Magnus Bay</span> Bay in Northwest of Mainland, Shetland

St Magnus Bay is a large coastal feature in the north-west of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. Roughly circular in shape with a diameter of about 19 kilometres (12 mi), it is open to the North Atlantic Ocean to the west. The indented coastline to the north, south and east between Esha Ness in the north and the Ness of Melby in the south contains numerous bays, firths and voes and there are several islands around the perimeter. The waters of the bay are up to 165 metres (541 ft) deep and may have been the site of a substantial meteor impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronas Voe</span>

Ronas Voe is a voe in Northmavine, Shetland. It divides the land between Ronas Hill, Shetland's tallest mountain, and the Tingon peninsula. It is the second largest voe in Shetland, the largest being Sullom Voe. The townships of Heylor, Voe and Swinister are located on its shores, and the township of Assater is under a kilometre away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lang Ayre</span> Beach in the Shetland Islands of Scotland

The Lang Ayre is a beach on the west side of Ronas Hill, Northmavine, Shetland. At 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) in length it is the archipelago's longest. It is accessed either by a long walk from the top of Collafirth Hill down the Burn of Monius, or by sea. The beach's sand is red, eroded from the up to 700 feet (210 m) high red granite cliffs towering above it.

References

  1. British Regional Geology: Orkney and Shetland - Institute of Geological Sciences, 1976
  2. The Shetland Dictionary - John J Graham, 1999
  3. The Dialect and Place Names of Shetland - Jakob Jakobsen, 1897
  4. "Lang Ayre". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  5. British Regional Geology: Orkney and Shetland - Institute of Geological Sciences, 1976