Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When numerous Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a vibrant, intriguing, and green campus alive with species of animals and plants that are not typically found at other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they’re correct – every depiction of Silwood Park is accurate!
As an ambassador of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I want to showcase the student life, activities, and community present at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
A brief overview of 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 expansive grasslands. A quick lookup on iNaturalist, a platform for mapping and sharing global biodiversity observations with a network of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, and a further investigation on eBird shows that 111 bird species have been documented thus far.
Moreover, Silwood Park is home to various long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more prominent studies conducted here.
Student experiences at Silwood Park
The campus primarily hosts postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution studies. Most of us are active in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples are:
- Chicken Club – who tend to the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who frequently meet to discuss literature of interest
- Gardening Club – who oversee the community garden’s allotments
- Conservation Club – who coordinate nature walks and conservation activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also engage in activities organized by clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs participating in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my favorite!), held either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and manages these activities, ensuring a lively and enjoyable student experience! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community exchanged languages and cultures over a few weeks, and we celebrated Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year by making dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also had community-organized parties honoring global festivities (such as Carnival), or simply parties for the sheer enjoyment of it.
My favorite campus event, however, is the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the participants who lose the pub quiz create the next one, and I can proudly claim the highest number of pub quizzes organized this year. Despite losing countless pub quizzes due to my inadequate trivia knowledge, there’s always a great time with good friends and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively hustle of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never appeared dull or insufficient. Alongside the numerous events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting community made up of students from around the globe. We all share a love for nature, our beautiful campus grounds, and, most importantly, each other’s company. We’re a tight-knit community that enjoys stargazing in the cold winter on the open field next to our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our window, and spending time with others.