3 November 2026 – Alison Biddulph & Alison Caffyn

Rivers

The nation's arteries or the nation's sewers?

Britain's rivers have become the focus of growing public concern. Stories of sewage discharges, declining wildlife and polluted waterways have raised difficult questions about how we care for one of our most precious shared resources.

Who is responsible when things go wrong? Are water companies, regulators and governments doing enough? How should we balance the needs of people, farming, industry, and the natural world? And when those in authority fail, is there anything that ordinary citizens can do?

Our speakers bring two complementary perspectives. Alison Biddulph is a passionate wild swimmer who has been involved in local campaigns that have helped secure designated bathing waters, bringing greater public scrutiny and transparency to river water quality. Alison Caffyn has extensive expertise in environmental governance and has been involved in successful legal action challenging decisions affecting our rivers. Together they will explore how communities can influence environmental policy and hold powerful organisations to account.

The evening will explore questions such as:

• Why are so many of Britain's rivers under pressure?
• Who should be responsible for protecting them?
• How effective are our current systems of regulation and accountability?
• Can citizen action really bring about meaningful change?
• What can local communities achieve through campaigning, scientific evidence and the law?
• How can each of us play a part in caring for the places we all share?

This is a story not only about rivers, but about democracy, stewardship, persistence, and the power of community action to make a lasting difference.

Alison Biddulph

Alison Biddulph is a Shropshire-based river swimmer and campaigner with a particular passion for the health of our local rivers. She led the successful campaign to secure official bathing-water designation for three Shropshire sites — on the River Severn at Shrewsbury and Ironbridge, and on the River Teme at Ludlow — using the designation as a way of bringing greater public attention, monitoring and investment to river water quality. She is also involved in citizen water-quality testing and works with others to encourage people to take an active interest in the rivers on their doorstep.

Alison Caffyn

Dr Alison Caffyn is a rural researcher with a particular interest in land use, agriculture and the countryside. She has researched the development and impacts of intensive poultry farming and agricultural runoff in Shropshire and Herefordshire, and has worked on questions around sustainable land use and the future of rural areas. She is a member of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership and has been closely involved in local debates about farming, planning and the environmental pressures facing the countryside. She has also contributed to national discussions about water quality and the relationship between agricultural land use and the health of our rivers.