Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they think of a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus rich with wildlife and plant life rarely found at other campuses like South Kensington or White City. They are largely correct – every representation of Silwood Park rings true!
As a member of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I wish to spotlight the student life, activities, and community spirit at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s field laboratory, covering 77 hectares and showcasing habitats like freshwater streams, lakes, a “historic” forest, and open fields. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, an application for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations globally with an online community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while further exploration on eBird indicates that 111 species of birds have been noted so far.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the setting for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more recognized projects conducted on the premises.
Student life at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students engaged in projects relating to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us participate in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Key examples include:
- Chicken Club – dedicated to caring for the chickens raised behind our residences
- Book Club – that convenes regularly to discuss interesting books on their reading agenda
- Gardening Club – which looks after the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – that organizes nature walks and conservation-focused activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the larger Imperial student body, many of us are also participants in clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs that partake in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which are hosted either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at the indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and lessons, we enjoy numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates these activities, ensuring a lively and engaging student atmosphere! In recent months, we’ve hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community came together to share languages and cultures over several weeks, as well as our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the year’s start, where we all gathered to make dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also thrown community-organized parties celebrating festivities from across the globe (such as Carnival), or gatherings simply for the joy of celebration.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that the team that loses the pub quiz is responsible for organizing the next one, and I can proudly claim the highest number of pub quizzes set this year. Despite losing many pub quizzes due to my lack of general trivia knowledge, there’s always enjoyment to be found with good company and a hearty pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my home away from home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the bustling civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or insufficient. In addition to the multitude of events and activities, we share a warm and inviting community made up of students from around the globe. We all have a passion for nature,