Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet focusing on Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, enchanting, and green campus brimming with wildlife and vegetation not typically found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right – every image associated with Silwood Park holds true!
As a representative of this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I aim to spotlight the student life, activities, and community present at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and encompassing ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A quick exploration on iNaturalist, an app designed for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide with a community of naturalists, uncovers that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while an additional search on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been noted on site thus far.
Even more fascinating, Silwood Park hosts a number of long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more notable studies conducted here.
Experiencing student life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students engaged in ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Many of us take part in various clubs situated at Silwood Park. Some notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who frequently convene to discuss interesting reads on their lists
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature excursions and conservation-oriented activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us are also members of and actively engage in clubs based in South Kensington!
On an informal note, we also have clubs centered around sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or in the indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and classes, we host various community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and manages such events to foster a lively and engaging student atmosphere! In recent months, we’ve hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community came together to share languages and cultures over several weeks. Additionally, we celebrated our annual Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, making dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Community-organized parties to celebrate global festivals (such as Carnival) or simply for the joy of gathering have also taken place.
However, my all-time favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It has become a Silwood tradition that the losers of the pub quiz must host the next one, and I can proudly declare the highest count of pub quizzes set this year. Despite losing many quizzes due to my limited general trivia knowledge, there’s always great fun to be had with wonderful company and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Although it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively buzz of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt tedious or unexciting. Alongside numerous events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting community formed by students from all around the globe. We all appreciate nature, value our beautiful campus grounds, and, most importantly, enjoy each other’s company.