These photos above are the vole with the short tail. below, a different vole. They both seem to use the same stretch of stream, though, so I think they are a mating pair. Hope so, anyway.
This blog charts the fortunes of water voles in and around the Whitchurch area, North Shropshire. Water voles are one of the UK's most threatened mammals, extinct in many counties, and so it's vital they receive as much monitoring and protection as there is going. Here in Whitchurch we're lucky enough to have them right in the middle of town - how cool is that?