Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, intriguing, and green campus brimming with wildlife and plants rarely found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In numerous respects, they are correct – and every representation of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I would like to emphasize the student experience, activities, and community present at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
A closer look at Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and sprawling grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an app designed for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide with an online network of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. A further inquiry on eBird shows that 111 bird species have been documented on the premises to date.
Notably, Silwood Park is also the location for numerous long-term research projects, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized studies taking place here.
Student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily hosts postgraduate students focused on endeavors related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are involved in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Some key examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to discuss books of interest on their reading lists
- Gardening Club – managing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – who arrange nature walks and conservation-oriented activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also join and actively participate in clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have groups that engage in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), played either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and oversees such events to guarantee a lively and exciting student experience! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community united to share languages and cultures over several weeks. We also celebrated our annual Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, where everyone came together to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Community-organized parties have commemorated celebrations from around the globe (such as Carnival) or gatherings purely for the joy of festivities.
My favorite campus event, however, has to be the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It’s part of Silwood tradition that the losing team of the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly state that I hold the record for the most pub quizzes set this year. Despite losing many pub quizzes due to my lack of general trivia knowledge, there’s always a blast to be had with great company and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my sanctuary away from home
Although situated a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt tedious or deficient. Beyond the multitude of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from across the globe. We all cherish nature, appreciate our stunning campus grounds, and, more importantly, relish each other’s company.