Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a verdant, enchanting campus bustling with flora and fauna rarely encountered at other sites like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are right – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a representative of this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I wish to underscore the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and encompassing ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an app dedicated to mapping and sharing biodiversity observations with an online network of naturalists, uncovers that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on the premises. A further inquiry on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been noted on campus to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park also hosts numerous long-term field research initiatives, with Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more prominent studies carried out on the grounds.
Student Experience at Silwood Park
The campus mainly comprises postgraduate students interested in projects centered on ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are involved in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens located behind our halls of residence
- Book Club – who convene regularly to discuss intriguing books
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – which arranges nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also take part in the activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), based either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on the campus or in indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, we have many community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates such activities to foster a dynamic and engaging student life! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community came together to share languages and cultures over a few weeks, as well as our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year, where everyone collaborated to make dumplings and couplets to ring in the new lunar year. We’ve also seen community-organized parties celebrating various global events (like Carnival), or parties simply for the joy of celebration.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz organized by our student community. It is a Silwood tradition that the losers of the pub quiz must host the next one, and I can proudly say I hold the record for the most pub quizzes set this year. Despite my frequent defeats in pub quizzes due to my insufficient general trivia knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be had in good company and a quality 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 nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or inadequate. Beyond the multitude of events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting community made up of students from every corner of the globe. We all cherish nature, appreciate our stunning campus surroundings, and, most importantly, enjoy each other’s company.