Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, intriguing, and green campus bustling with wildlife and flora rarely found at our other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they’re right – every mental image of Silwood Park is spot on!
As a representative of this lesser-known group within Imperial, I aim to showcase the student experience, activities, and community at our nature-filled campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and hosting environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A brief search on iNaturalist, an app dedicated to mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide among a network of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been documented on campus, while a further inquiry on eBird shows that 111 bird species have been observed on-site thus far.
Furthermore, Silwood Park is the location of various long-term field studies, including the well-known Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project among others conducted on the premises.
Student Life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolutionary projects. Many of us engage in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – tending to the chickens housed behind our residential halls
- Book Club – meeting regularly to discuss various books of interest
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our communal garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation-related activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also take part in activities hosted by clubs in South Kensington!
Casually, we also participate in sports clubs featuring badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), either at the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports halls in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and classes, we host numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and manages these activities, fostering a lively and enjoyable student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community shared languages and cultures over several weeks, and we celebrated 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 celebrations for global festivities (such as Carnival) or simply to revel in the joy of gatherings.
However, my favorite campus event remains the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It’s a tradition at Silwood that the bottom team from the quiz sets the next one, and I can proudly state I hold the record for the most pub quizzes organized this year. Despite my frequent losses in the quizzes owing to my limited general trivia knowledge, there’s always good fun to be savored with great company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the closest village), life at Silwood Park has never struck me as dull or deficient. Alongside the myriad of events and activities, we foster a friendly and inviting community made up of students from various corners of the globe. We all share a love for nature, cherish our stunning campus grounds, and crucially, enjoy one another’s company. We’re a tightly-knit community that relishes stargazing in the winter chill in the open field beside our bar, observing the birds and mammals that