Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enchanting, and green campus rich with wildlife and vegetation rarely found at other locations such as South Kensington or White City. They are largely correct – every depiction of Silwood Park is accurate!
As a member of this lesser-known Imperial community, I aim to showcase the student life, activities, and camaraderie present at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive meadows. A brief search on iNaturalist, an application for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations with a global network of naturalists, reveals 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi recorded on campus, while a further search on eBird indicates 111 bird species identified to date.
Notably, Silwood Park is home to several long-standing field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two prominent studies carried out on-site.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly hosts postgraduate students engaged in ecology, conservation, and evolution endeavors. Many of us belong to various clubs located at Silwood Park. Some key examples include:
- Chicken Club – managing chickens raised behind our student accommodations
- Book Club – frequently engaging in discussions about interesting literature
- Gardening Club – overseeing allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – coordinating nature walks and conservation efforts for Silwood Park students.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also get involved in clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we have groups participating in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (which happens to be my personal favorite!), utilizing either the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and classes, we host various community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and manages these activities to promote a lively and engaging student atmosphere! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community shared their languages and cultures over several weeks, and our yearly Chinese New Year celebration, where everyone came together to make dumplings and couplets in honor of the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized celebrations for global events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of coming together.
My favorite event on campus is the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It has become a Silwood tradition that the quiz losers organize the following one, and I can proudly say that I have set the most quizzes this year. Despite my repeated losses owing to my limited general trivia knowledge, the experience is always filled with laughter, great friends, and a delightful pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the bustling town (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt ordinary or unexciting. Amid a multitude of events and activities, we foster a warm and inviting community of students from around the globe. Our shared love for nature, our stunning campus landscape, and, more importantly, each other’s company, binds us together. We are a close-knit community who enjoys stargazing under the winter sky on the open field adjacent to our bar, observing birds and mammals at our window panes, and spending quality time with fellow nature enthusiasts.
Most evenings, I cook with my dear friend from India, who shares my passion for Asian cuisine and birdwatching. We are often accompanied by friends residing a