Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a lush, enigmatic, and green campus alive with wildlife and plant life not typically present at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right—every image formed of Silwood Park holds true!
As a representative of this lesser-known segment at Imperial, my goal is to showcase the student life, activities, and community in our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park functions as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and inclusive of environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive grasslands. A brief inquiry on iNaturalist, an app designed for mapping and sharing biodiversity findings globally with a network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of flora, fauna, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Moreover, a search on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been identified on campus to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park also accommodates numerous long-term field study projects, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more well-known studies carried out on-site.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students interested in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are active in a variety of clubs based out of Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – tending to the chickens raised behind our student accommodations
- Book Club – convening regularly to discuss interesting readings
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation initiatives for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also engage in activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we participate in sports clubs including badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), based either on the multipurpose games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club-related activities and classes, we have a variety of community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and coordinates such events to ensure a lively and thrilling student experience! Recently, we’ve hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community exchanged languages and cultures over several weeks. We also marked the Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, making dumplings and couplets to celebrate the new lunar year. Community-organized parties celebrating global events (such as Carnival) or simply for the joy of festivities have also taken place.
However, my favorite event on campus is the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that those who lose the quiz must organize the next one, and I can confidently say I hold the record for the most pub quizzes set this year. Despite losing many quizzes due to my lack of general trivia knowledge, there’s always a lot of fun with fantastic company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s just a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (for instance, the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or deficient. In addition to the many events and activities, we have a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from all corners of the globe. We all adore nature, value our stunning campus surroundings, and, more importantly, enjoy one another’s company. We’re a tightly knit community that loves stargazing under the winter sky in the open field next to our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our room windows, and spending time with fellow