Ten years of work in a teacher enquiry network have generated enormous amounts of data about the experience and a range of impacts (Baumfield et al, 2007; 2008; 2009 Hall et al, 2007; 2010a; 2010b Higgins et al, 2007 Wall et al 2005; 2010; 2011a). However, it is necessary for us to interrogate this data and to critically analyse the warrant for this kind of working. The enquiry network was informed by and developed using principles of collaborative working, the democratic identification of desirable outcomes, and explicit power relationships. Although the funding and many of the project aims privileged outcomes for learners in schools and colleges, we held to the underlying aim of developing meaningful partnerships between universities and schools, between individual researchers and teachers and among learning professionals from a wide range of contexts. Extending work presented at ECER 2011 (Wall et al. 2011), this paper addresses the nature of the data collected, using a typology to assess elements of validity, rigour and participation (drawing on Wall et al, 2011b) and ventures in to the ‘swampy lowland’ territory where definitions of partnership, networks and collaborative practice can be discussed.