THESE children decided it was time to do something to help the environment.

Marston Brook in Oxford was in a terrible state, with all sorts of rubbish thrown into it.

But pupils at Harlow School, in Old Marston, weren’t prepared to put up with the disgusting mess and smell any longer.

So they decided, rather than wait for council workmen to arrive, to do the job themselves.

They spent two days at the end of the summer term in 1974 clearing the brook of all the debris they could find.

They clearly had a big job on their hands.

In this picture, they appear to have retrieved part of a vehicle.

And it wasn’t just a matter of standing on the bank and pulling the rubbish out – some, as can be seen, are in the water getting their feet and legs wet and dirty.

When they had cleared a two-mile stretch of the stream, the children, aged 13 and 14, then set about tidying the banks and disposing of all the waste.

Mr B Mulliner, their headmaster, told the Oxford Mail at the time that this was the first year that the children had tackled work of this kind, and he hoped they would repeat the exercise the following year.

He said: “I think that it will stop them throwing rubbish into the brook if they know that they will have to clear it out. I think it will be very useful.”

Mr Mulliner appeared to be blaming his pupils, but surely they weren’t responsible for everything in the brook?

Does anyone recognise the pupils above and have any memories of the big clean-up?