production, and has left a legacy in the unique strip farming which survives in the 21st century around Epworth. The watercourses of the Isle and the surrounding area are managed by the Isle of Axholme Internal Drainage Board which maintains 302 km of watercourse and 18 pumping stations, and manages the water levels of the adjacent Thorne Moors and Hatfield Moors, both environmentally sensitive areas. Road and railway The Axholme Joint Railway traversed the area, but the line has now been abandoned. There are still railway stations in and on the line between Scunthorpe and Sheffield. The M180 motorway now crosses the centre of the area, dividing 'South Axholme', centred on Epworth, from 'North Axholme', centred on Crowle. The A161 road crosses the Isle from north to south. There was an Isle of Axholme Rural District from 1894 to 1974, which covered the entire Isle after 1936. This became part of the Boothferry district of Humberside in 1974, and since 1996 has been in the North Lincolnshire unitary authority. Notes References External links An Isle of Axholme News Site History of the Isle of Axholme Isle of Axholme information site Isle of Axholme Internal Drainage Board website History of the northern area of the Isle of Axholme Eastoft - Gateway to the Isle of Axholme Geography of Lincolnshire Former islands of England