Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a vibrant, enigmatic, and green campus brimming with wildlife and vegetation rarely found at other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they’re correct – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I’d like to showcase the student experience, activities, and camaraderie at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
A brief overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application used for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations globally with a community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, and an additional search on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been identified to date.
Notably, Silwood Park is also home to a variety of long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more recognized studies conducted here.
Campus life at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly hosts postgraduate students engaged in eco-centric, conservation, and evolutionary research. Many of us are involved in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Some notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – which cares for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – which frequently meets to discuss literature of interest
- Gardening Club – which oversees the plots in our community garden
- Conservation Club – which arranges nature walks and conservation-related activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the larger Imperial student body, many of us also engage in activities organized by clubs in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs that partake in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my favorite!), based either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, we organize numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that helps organize and facilitate activities, ensuring a lively and stimulating student experience! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our primarily international community shared languages and cultures over a few weeks, and we also commemorated Chinese New Year with dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also had community-hosted parties celebrating global events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of festivities.
However, my favorite event has to be the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that the quiz losers are tasked with hosting the next one, and I can proudly claim the record for the highest number of quizzes hosted this year. Despite my frequent losses due to limited general knowledge, there’s always good fun with great company and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the bustling atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or unexciting. Besides the many events and activities, we have a friendly and inclusive community of students from around the globe. We all share a love for nature, our stunning campus grounds, and most importantly, each other’s company. We’re a tight-knit community that enjoys stargazing in the chilly winter on the open field adjacent to our bar, observing the wildlife outside our windows, and spending quality time with fellow nature enthusiasts.