Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many students from Imperial picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus overflowing with wildlife and plants rarely found in other areas like South Kensington or White City. In numerous aspects, they are correct – every depiction of Silwood Park is spot on!
As a voice for this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I aim to showcase the student experience, engagements, and atmosphere at our natural parkland campus situated in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, 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 exchanging biodiversity observations worldwide with a network of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been observed on campus. An additional inquiry on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been recorded on campus to date.
More fascinatingly, Silwood Park is home to numerous extensive field research projects, including the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project, which are among the more prominent studies conducted here.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students keen on projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us engage in various clubs affiliated with Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples encompass:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – convenes regularly to converse about books on their reading agenda
- Gardening Club – oversees the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizes nature hikes and conservation-centric activities for Silwood Park students.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us are also involved and actively participate in clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs that partake in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), held either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities found in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, we host numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has a dedicated student council that organizes and facilitates these happenings to ensure a lively and engaging student atmosphere! Recently, we’ve hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community collaborated to share our languages and cultures over several weeks. We also enjoyed our annual Chinese New Year celebration earlier this year, where everyone came together to create dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also seen community-organized parties celebrating various global festivities (like Carnival), as well as gatherings arranged simply for the joy of socializing.
However, my favorite event on campus has to be the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student body. It’s part of the Silwood tradition that the quiz losers are responsible for organizing the next one, and I can proudly assert I’ve set the most quizzes this year. Despite losing countless pub quizzes due to my inadequate general trivia knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be found with delightful company and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Although a 30-minute stroll from the lively buzz of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or lacking. In conjunction with the multitude of events and activities, we benefit from a friendly and inviting community composed of students from all corners of the globe. All of