Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When students at Imperial envision Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, enigmatic, and green campus overflowing with distinctive wildlife and vegetation, which sets it apart from South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right—every mental portrayal of Silwood Park rings true!
As a representative of this lesser-known segment of the Imperial community, my goal is to shed light on the student life, activities, and camaraderie at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Presenting Silwood Park
Silwood Park functions as Imperial’s open-air laboratory, covering 77 hectares and encompassing habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A brief search on iNaturalist, a platform for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide among a network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Moreover, eBird reports that 111 species of birds have been identified on campus up to this point.
Notably, Silwood Park also hosts a variety of long-term field research initiatives, including the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project, which are recognized as some of the prominent studies carried out on-site.
Student life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students dedicated to ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Many of us engage in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Highlighted examples include:
- Chicken Club – looking after chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – convening regularly to discuss literature of interest
- Gardening Club – tending to the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – coordinating nature hikes and conservation initiatives for Silwood Park students.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also join and actively partake in clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we form groups engaging in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), utilizing either the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or indoor sports facilities in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
Beyond club gatherings and classes, we organize numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that plans and facilitates these activities, ensuring a lively and dynamic student experience! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our international community exchanged languages and cultures over several weeks, and celebrated Chinese New Year with dumplings and couplets to ring in the new lunar year. We’ve also held community-organized celebrations for global events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of festivities.
Nevertheless, my favorite campus event remains the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the pub quiz challengers who finish last must organize the next one, and I can proudly claim to have set the highest number of quizzes this year. Even though I often lose due to my weak general trivia knowledge, there’s always enjoyment to be had with great company and a pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively center (e.g., the train station and closest village), life at Silwood Park never feels dull or lacking. With countless events and activities, we benefit from a friendly and inviting community of students from around the globe. We all appreciate nature, treasure our beautiful campus grounds, and, importantly, enjoy each other’s companionship. We’re a close-knit group that revels in stargazing during the cold winter nights in the open field adjacent to our bar, watching birds and mammals visit our windows, and spending time among fellow nature lovers.
Most evenings, I cook with my close friend from India, who shares my passion for Asian cuisine and birdwatching. We’re often accompanied by friends living