Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a vibrant, mysterious, and green campus rich with wildlife and plant life not typically seen at other sites like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right – every vision of Silwood Park is spot on!
As a member of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I’d like to showcase the student experience, activities, and community at our natural park setting in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park functions as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats such as freshwater streams, ponds, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive grasslands. A quick look on iNaturalist, an app dedicated to mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide through a network of nature enthusiasts, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been documented on campus. A further check on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been noted on campus to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also home to numerous long-term field research initiatives, with Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the most notable projects taking place on-site.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly accommodates postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolutionary studies. Most of us participate in various clubs situated at Silwood Park. Some notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – caring for the chickens situated behind our dormitories
- Book Club – meeting regularly to discuss interesting books
- Gardening Club – tending to the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also engage in activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs that cover sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), based either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, there are numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park features its own student council that organizes and facilitates these activities, ensuring a lively and dynamic student life! In recent months, we have hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community gathered to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and 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 had community-organized parties celebrating global events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of gathering.
My favorite campus event, however, has to be the weekly pub quiz, hosted by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the losers of the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly claim the highest number of pub quizzes arranged this year. Despite losing many pub quizzes due to my limited general trivia knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment with good friends and a nice 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 seemed boring or inadequate. Besides the multitude of events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting community made up of students from around the globe. We all appreciate nature, take pride in our beautiful campus grounds, and, most importantly, enjoy each other’s company. We’re a tight-knit community that cherishes winter stargazing in the chilly air on the open field adjacent to our bar,