Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When students from Imperial envision Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, enigmatic, and green campus filled with wildlife and flora not typically found at other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they’re right—every depiction of Silwood Park is accurate!
As someone representing this lesser-known Imperial community, I aim to showcase the student experience, activities, and camaraderie at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park acts as Imperial’s outdoor research center, covering 77 hectares and encompassing environments like freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive grasslands. A quick look on iNaturalist, an application for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide among a community of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Additional inquiries on eBird reveal that 111 bird species have been documented on campus so far.
Moreover, Silwood Park is home to various long-term field research initiatives, among them the Nash’s Field Experiment and the widely recognized Blue Tit Project conducted on-site.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students engaged in ecology, conservation, and evolution initiatives. Many of us are members of several clubs based at Silwood Park. Some notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – looking after chickens raised behind our residences
- Book Club – frequently meeting to chat about intriguing reads
- Gardening Club – tending to the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation events for Silwood Park students.
Being part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also engage in activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs participating in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), held either at the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports facilities in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and academic lessons, we host countless community-led events on campus. Silwood Park features its own student council that organizes and facilitates these events, ensuring a lively and dynamic student experience! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community shared languages and cultures over several weeks. We also marked the annual Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year by making dumplings and couplets to usher in the new lunar year. We’ve also hosted community-organized parties celebrating global occasions (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of getting together.
My favorite event on campus is the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s part of Silwood tradition that the losing team must host the next quiz, and I can proudly state I have set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Despite losing many quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, it’s always a great time with delightful company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively spirit of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park never feels dull or insufficient. Besides the countless events and activities, we have a friendly and welcoming community of students from various corners of the globe. We all appreciate nature, treasure our stunning campus grounds, and more importantly, value each other’s company. We’re a close-knit group that enjoys stargazing in the winter chill on the open field beside our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our windows, and spending time with fellow nature enthusiasts.
Most evenings, I prepare meals with my dear friend