Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they think of a vibrant, enchanting, and green campus bustling with wildlife and vegetation rarely found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a voice for this lesser-known segment of the Imperial community, I wish to showcase the student life, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
A glimpse of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research site, covering 77 hectares and encompassing environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, a platform for cataloging and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while further exploration on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been documented to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also the venue for several long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more notable studies carried out on the premises.
Life of students at Silwood Park
The campus primarily hosts postgraduate students focused on projects relating to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are members of various clubs based at Silwood Park. Prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – who are responsible for the care of the chickens raised behind our residences
- Book Club – who frequently meet to discuss literature of interest
- Gardening Club – who oversee the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – who arrange nature walks and conservation-centered activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also engage in the activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), taking place either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club initiatives and classes, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and facilitates activities to ensure a lively and engaging student life! In recent months, we’ve enjoyed the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community came together to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and we also celebrated our annual Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, where we made dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Additionally, we’ve had community-organized parties celebrating global events (like Carnival) or simply gatherings arranged for the joy of celebrating.
However, my favorite event on campus has to be the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the losers of the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly state that I’ve set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Despite losing countless pub quizzes due to my insufficient general trivia knowledge, it’s always a delightful experience with pleasant company and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my sanctuary away from home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from bustling civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed monotonous or insufficient. In addition to the many events and activities, we have a friendly and inclusive community composed of students from all corners of the globe. We all cherish nature, our stunning campus landscape, and, more importantly, enjoy spending time together. We’re a tight-knit community that relishes opportunities for stargazing in the winter chill on the open fields next