Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a vibrant, enigmatic, and green campus bustling with animals and plants rarely found at our other locations such as South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every representation of Silwood Park is accurate!
As a representative of this lesser-known faction at Imperial, I want to emphasize the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
A glimpse into Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and boasting habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open grass fields. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, an app designed for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide within an online 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 avian species have been counted on campus thus far.
Notably, Silwood Park is also the location for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized endeavors conducted on-site.
The student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students engaged in projects focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us participate in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – who oversee the care of the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who convene regularly to deliberate on books of interest from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – who tend to the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – who arrange nature walks and conservation-oriented activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us are also active members and often engage in clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have groups that partake in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my absolute favorite!), which take place either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, we host numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park possesses its own student council that organizes and facilitates these activities to maintain a lively and engaging student life! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community gathered to exchange languages and cultures over several weeks, and we celebrated our annual Chinese New Year event at the beginning of the year, where everyone came together to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Community-organized festivities have also included celebrations from around the globe (like Carnival) as well as parties simply for the joy of gathering.
However, my favorite campus event is undoubtedly the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that those who lose the pub quiz must host the next one, and I can proudly claim the title for setting the most pub quizzes this year. Despite frequently losing pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always a delightful time to be had with great company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s situated a 30-minute walk from the bustling essence of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed monotonous or lacking. Besides the plethora of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from all corners of the globe.