Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet focusing on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When many Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, enchanting, green campus bustling with wildlife and flora rarely found at other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In numerous respects, they are correct – every portrayal of Silwood Park holds true!
As an ambassador for this lesser-known community within Imperial, I aim to illuminate the student life, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
A glimpse into Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open fields. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, an application for mapping and sharing global biodiversity observations with an online community of nature enthusiasts, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, with additional data from eBird indicating 111 bird species documented thus far.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also home to numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two prominent studies conducted on-site.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students engaged in projects centered around ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us participate in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Some notable examples are:
- Chicken Club – dedicated to caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who frequently meet to discuss interesting books from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – which manages the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – oversees nature walks and conservation-focused activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the larger Imperial student community, many of us are also members of and actively participate in clubs based in South Kensington!
Additionally, we have informal clubs that engage in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (which happens to be my favorite!), taking place either at the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports halls located in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Besides club activities and lessons, we have numerous community-led events at campus. Silwood Park hosts its own student council that organizes and coordinates such activities to ensure lively and dynamic student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community gathered to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and we celebrated our annual Chinese New Year event at the beginning of the year, bringing everyone together to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized parties celebrating various global traditions (such as Carnival), or simply parties thrown for the joy of it.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz organized by our student community. It’s a 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. Even though I’ve lost numerous quizzes due to my limited knowledge of general trivia, there’s always great enjoyment to be found with wonderful company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my home away from home
Even though it’s 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 dull or deficient. Along with the multitude of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inviting community made up of students from across the globe.