Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a lush, enigmatic, and green campus bustling with wildlife and vegetation seldom found at other locations such as South Kensington or White City. In many ways, their perspective holds true—every image imagined of Silwood Park is indeed accurate!
As an advocate for this lesser-known Imperial community, my goal is to showcase the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Serving as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, Silwood Park spans 77 hectares and features habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A brief search on iNaturalist, an application dedicated to mapping and sharing global biodiversity observations with a network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on our campus. Furthermore, a query on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been documented on-site thus far.
Notably, Silwood Park is home to numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the most distinguished projects conducted here.
Campus Life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students keen on ecology, conservation, and evolution studies. Many of us engage in various clubs situated at Silwood Park. Some prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens kept behind our residence halls
- Book Club – meeting regularly to discuss intriguing books
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation initiatives for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also participate in activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
In an informal setting, we have clubs participating in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my absolute favorite!), held either at the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, many community-led events take place on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and coordinates these events, ensuring an engaging and lively student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community exchanged languages and cultures over several weeks, and our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year, donde todos nos reunimos para hacer dumplings y couplets para dar la bienvenida al nuevo año lunar. También hemos tenido fiestas organizadas por la comunidad que celebran festividades globales (como el Carnaval), o simplemente fiestas por el amor a las fiestas.
My favorite event on campus, however, is the weekly pub quiz organized by our student community. It is part of Silwood culture that those who lose the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can honestly boast the highest number of pub quizzes set this year. Despite often losing owing to my lackluster general trivia knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be found in the company of friends and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the vibrant atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the closest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed monotonous or insufficient. Alongside the multitude of events and activities, we have a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from all corners of the globe. We all appreciate nature, value our stunning campus grounds, and, most importantly, enjoy one another’s company. We are a close-knit community that takes pleasure in stargazing during the winter chill on the open field beside our bar, watching the birds and mammals.