Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enigmatic, and lush campus abundant with wildlife and flora that are not typically found at our other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – and every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known segment of the Imperial community, I wish to shed light on the student experience, activities, and community 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 incorporating environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide within an online community of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. A further exploration on eBird uncovers that 111 bird species have been noted on the premises thus far.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the location for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more recognized studies conducted here.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly accommodates postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Many of us are active in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Notable highlights include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens housed behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to delve into books from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – who oversee the allotments within our community garden
- Conservation Club – who coordinate nature walks and conservation-centric activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also join and frequently take part in activities from clubs located in South Kensington!
Informally, we also have groups that partake in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), hosted either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities found in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Beyond club engagements and classes, we have a plethora of community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and facilitates such activities to ensure a lively and engaging student atmosphere! In recent months, we’ve hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community gathered to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and we celebrated our annual Chinese New Year event at the beginning of the year, where everyone came together to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also organized community parties that honor global events (such as Carnival), or simply parties held for the love of festivities.
However, my favorite event on campus has to be the weekly pub quiz, hosted by our student community. It’s tradition at Silwood that the losing team of the pub quiz is responsible for organizing the next one, and I can proudly say that I hold the record for the most pub quizzes set this year. Even though I’ve lost many pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always enjoyable company and satisfying pints to be found.
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 nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never been dull or lacking. Alongside the multitude of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inviting community made up of students from all corners of the globe. We all cherish