We appraise the success of a novel mitigation approach and subsequent adaptive management, designed to reduce the transfer of fine sediment in a small upland catchment in the UK. Analysis of the river response demonstrates that the fluvial sediment system has become more restrictive with reduced fine sediment transfer. The study demonstrates that channel reconfiguration can be effective in mitigating fine sediment flux in upland streams but the full value of this may take many years to achieve.