The Walcot Wiggle isn’t joining the dab and the floss as the latest teenybopper dance move. It’s an 18-month collaboration between two farmers on the river Kemp in Shropshire, Shropshire Hills National Landscape team, Severn Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency, Natural England and Catchment Sensitive Farming. The project is reconnecting more than a kilometre of the Kemp with its floodplain.
The work will make a big difference to the condition of a 30by30 ‘gold tier’ site - the Kemp is a tributary to the River Clun which includes a Special Area of Conservation supporting internationally important freshwater species, including the freshwater pearl mussel.
But restoring nature isn’t an aim that sits in isolation – having more, bigger, better and connected areas protected for nature brings huge benefits for communities too. The Walcot Wiggle will reduce flood peaks and provide clean water for the long term.
The newly rewiggled Kemp will provide flood protection, clean water and greater biodiversity.
From straightened river to natural meander
Like all good stories, the project began a conversation. Advisors from Catchment Sensitive Farming and the Shropshire Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes programme met with a farmer on the Kemp to explore ideas for the land. Those conversations grew into a joint initiative with the neighbouring farm to manage their often-flooded land in the Kemp valley differently. With both landowners on board, the Walcot Wiggle began to take shape, with the Environment Agency and the Shropshire Hills National Landscape team contributing funding and expertise, Catchment Sensitive Farming securing long-term revenue for the farm businesses, and Severn Rivers Trust leading delivery on the ground.
Like many rivers across the UK, the Kemp was straightened generations ago to create more productive farmland and move water away from the landscape as quickly as possible. This was a priority at the time, but straightened rivers flow faster, disconnect from their floodplains and lose the natural habitats that fish, birds, mammals and insects rely on.
Catchment Sensitive Farming and the Shropshire Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes programme devised a bespoke audit for the site, which Severn Rivers Trust carried out. They devised a feasibility plan, which in turn helped secure two Countryside Stewardship higher tier agreements for the river channel – one of the first schemes under the "Make Room for the River to Move" option. Having the security of this higher tier agreement gives the landowners a long-term footing to support river restoration alongside their wider farming systems.
Severn Rivers Trust then led the delivery: securing permits, overseeing baseline surveys, and managing the site and contractors. Skilled local contractors excavated the historic river channel, created wetland scrapes and pools, added river gravels for habitat, and planted trees and shrubs along the banks. The river was reconnected with its floodplain in June 2026.
New trees alongside the restored river channel.
Results and wider benefits
Reconnecting the Kemp with its floodplain is already delivering benefits across the valley. Natural processes restored, the project is improving water quality and soil health, helping the landscape become more resilient to climate change, and creating habitat for fish, mammals, wading birds, amphibians and invertebrates.
Archaeological research carried out ahead of the works also revealed the valley was once part of a 19th-century floated water meadow system, with carriers and sluices once used to enrich soils and encourage early grass growth. Re-wetting parts of the historic system is helping preserve these features for the long term.
For the two farm businesses, the Countryside Stewardship higher tier agreement secures a landscape that works for farming, nature and water for years to come. And for the wider community, slowing the flow of water through the valley will help reduce downstream flood peaks, improve water quality, and demonstrate what's possible when landowners, trusted advice and strong partnerships come together around a shared vision.
The Walcot Wiggle was funded by Shropshire Hills National Landscape's 30by30 funding from Defra, the Environment Agency's Local Water Environment Grant, the Elgol Fund for Nature, and the HDH Wills Charitable Trust, with the initial site audit funded through the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme.
New river gravels provide valuable habitat.
