Composed by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a verdant, enchanting, and green campus filled with wildlife and flora seldom found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In numerous respects, they are right – each depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and camaraderie at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
A glimpse into Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and encompassing habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open fields. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations across the globe within an online community of naturalists, uncovers that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Additionally, a further inquiry on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been documented on campus thus far.
More intriguingly, Silwood Park is also the location for numerous long-term field research endeavors, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized initiatives conducted on the premises.
Living as a student at Silwood Park
The campus is primarily populated by postgraduate students engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are involved in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – who are responsible for caring for the chickens reared behind our halls of residence
- Book Club – who meet regularly to discuss intriguing titles in their reading list
- Gardening Club – who tend to the allotments in our communal garden
- Conservation Club – who coordinate nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the larger Imperial student body, many of us also engage in activities organized by clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), taking place either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates such events, ensuring a lively and dynamic student life! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community came together to share our languages and cultures over several weeks. We also celebrated our annual Chinese New Year at the year’s start, where everyone gathered to make dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized parties celebrating festivities from around the globe (like Carnival) or simply parties organized for the joy of having fun.
However, my favorite campus event is undoubtedly the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s a part of Silwood culture that the quiz losers must host the next one, and I can proudly declare the highest count of quizzes hosted this year. Although I have lost many pub quizzes due to my limited general trivia knowledge, there’s always a great time to be had with good company and a lovely pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively heart of civilization (for example, the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt tedious or dull. In addition to the plethora of events and activities, we are part of a warm and inviting community filled with students from all over the globe. All of us cherish