The largest urban rewilding project in the UK is happening on an old golf course.

But decades of intensive management of the parkland has taken its toll on soil life. The team looking after the park are now not only thinking about how best to manage what is above the ground, but the critical importance of the complex world that lives beneath it too.

Standing in an open expanse of scrubby grass surrounded by patches of woodland on the outskirts of Derby city, and something feels slightly off.

There is a grand, old looking building to one side, whilst the areas of the grass are still kept neatly trimmed. The tree line also looks a bit too orderly, and there are some curious patches of sand which are slowly being encroached on.

That’s because if you were stood in Allestree Park three years ago, you’d have been more likely to spot a golfing albatross and an eagle rather than dog walkers and bird watchers. What was once a municipal golf course is now the UK’s largest urban rewilding project.