Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enchanting, and green campus bustling with wildlife and vegetation seldom encountered at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every representation of Silwood Park is precise!
As a spokesperson for this lesser-known segment of the Imperial community, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and encompassing environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, an app that allows users to map and share biodiversity observations globally within a social network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while a further inquiry on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been documented to date.
Moreover, Silwood Park is also the venue for numerous long-term field research projects, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more renowned initiatives conducted on-site.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly accommodates postgraduate students engaged in research related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us are involved in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Some notable examples are:
- Chicken Club – dedicated to caring for the chickens raised behind our halls of residence
- Book Club – who meet regularly to converse about selected titles on their reading list
- Gardening Club – who oversee the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – who arrange nature walks and conservation-centric activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the wider Imperial student body, many of us also belong to and actively engage in activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
In an informal capacity, we also have clubs that partake in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at the indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council responsible for organizing and facilitating these activities to promote a lively and exhilarating student life! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our mostly international community united 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. Additionally, we’ve seen community-organized parties celebrating various global festivals (such as Carnival), or gatherings arranged solely for the joy of having a party.
My favorite event on campus, however, must be the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It has become part of Silwood culture that those who lose the pub quiz are tasked with organizing the next one, and I can proudly assert that I have hosted the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Although I’ve lost many pub quizzes due to my weak general trivia knowledge, there’s always enjoyment to be found in good company with a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt tedious or insufficient. Alongside the multitude of events and activities, we have a friendly and welcoming community made up of students from across the globe.