THE Oxford Canal at Enslow near Bletchingdon usually looks picturesque, but in March 1976 it was reduced to a muddy ditch.
For about half a mile the canal was drained of water to enable workers to widen the canal underneath the old Enslow Bridge.
Oxfordshire County Council workers reduced the width of the towpath underneath the bridge to make the canal 15ft wide instead of about 11ft.
The authority took the opportunity to do the work while the canal was drained for British Waterways Board to carry out maintenance work.
Water from the canal was blocked off just upstream from the Rock off Gibraltar pub and about half a mile downstream near the Shipton-on-Cherwell cement works.
It came after a request from the waterways board that underneath the bridge was hard to navigate following the construction of a new bridge to carry the Bicester-Witney road.
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