Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with a focus on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a verdant, intriguing campus bustling with wildlife and vegetation rarely found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – and every representation of Silwood Park is true!
As a spokesperson for this lesser-known enclave at Imperial, I wish to showcase the student experience, initiatives, and community within our natural parkland setting in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and incorporating environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive grassland. A quick search on iNaturalist, a platform for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations globally within an online community of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while a further inquiry on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been noted on the premises to date.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the venue for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project standing out among the more prominent studies conducted there.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly hosts postgraduate students engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are members of various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens kept behind our residence halls
- Book Club – which meets regularly to discuss books from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – managing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation-oriented activities for Silwood Park Campus students.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also belong to and actively engage in events of clubs located in South Kensington!
Additionally, we have informal clubs that engage in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), hosted either in the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, a variety of community-driven events occur on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and coordinates these activities, ensuring a lively and enjoyable student experience! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our primarily international community gathered to share our languages and cultures over several weeks. We also celebrated our annual Chinese New Year festivities at the beginning of the year, where everyone united to make dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also hosted community-organized parties celebrating diverse global festivities (like Carnival), or simply parties thrown for the joy of gatherings.
However, my top campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz, orchestrated by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that the team with the lowest score must set up the next quiz, and I can proudly assert that I have organized the most quizzes this year. Despite my frequent losses at various pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always plenty of enjoyment to be found among good friends and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively essence of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or insufficient. Besides the myriad of events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting