Nottingham University: main car park

Info date: April 2013.

The main visitor car park is “pay & display”, or free with a Blue Badge. Prices are given below. It’s next to Hugh Stewart Hall.

Map Main visitors’ car park on OpenStreetMap

There are many routes towards it; the one I describe here starts by coming in at the North Entrance and round to the white-fronted Maths building (see North Entrance page).

A road leads towards a white building in the distance, labelled "Maths". A tall chimney with a black top is further away against the skyline. To the left of the road is a pavement, and grass with some silver birch trees.

On your left just after the Maths building is a curvy grey building: the landmark for your right turn to the main car park.

Photo: A road ahead leads uphill. On the left is the side of a large curved grey building without windows. On the right hand side of the road, about level with the curvy building, a side road leads up the hillside between green lawns. The photo has an arrow added to point along this side road, and a label "To main car park".

The curvy grey building is actually the Keighton Auditorium, but I gather it’s known colloquially as “the tongue” :-)

Here’s a view of that turning from another angle, behind the auditorium.

Photo: In the foreground, on the right hand side, is the edge of a curvy grey building with no windows. A green sign in front of it says "Keighton Auditorium". Past the auditorium, a road runs across the photo. On the other side of the road is a green lawn hillside. Up the hillside runs a short road. At the top of the road, a car park can be seen in the distance. A row of tall conifers blocks the view of some of the cars, to the right of the small road. In the distance behind the car park is a long, low brick building with many windows. (It's Hugh Stewart Hall.)

Heading into the car park, there’s a Pay and Display point on your left…

Photo: A short section of road leads uphill towards a large, mostly-full car park. At the top of the hill, the road curves slightly to the left, past a couple of green signs. Over on that left hand side, a third green sign in the distance is the Pay and Display point. Although the wording can't be seen in this photo, an arrow added to the photo labels it.

The car park pricing, as at March 2013:

Photo: a Pay and Display Parking notice. Wording is transcribed in text of page.

Text is:

Visitors Pay and Display Parking
Free for up to 30 minutes ticket required
Up to 2 hours £2.00
Up to 4 hours £4.00
Full Day £7.00
All paid tariffs INCLUDE the first 30 minutes free period
Vehicles must display a valid Pay and Display ticket and must be parked wholly within a designated bay
Blue Badge holders park for free providing their blue badge is clearly displayed
Visitors may park in any parking bay in this car park if all visitors bays are full
Staff may not park in any visitor bay without a valid pay and display ticket
Vehicles are parked at owners risk
The University accepts no liability [etc]
Students and Orange permit holders are not permitted to park in the car park

Blue Badge holders will probably prefer to park nearer their destination, if there are spaces available. However, if you do need a step-free route from this car park to Science City, it’s via the pavement along the road you came in on. (Turn left onto main road, turn right after the white-fronted Maths building, then look for wide pathway on your left as documented on “Into Science City” page.)

If you can do steps, you may like to take a possibly slightly shorter route: across the car park and down a path and a flight of steps. The rest of this page shows that route.

This view is with your back to the parking info sign, looking north-east, parallel to the main road. Go to that far corner of the car park.

Photo: a large, mostly-full car park stretches out ahead. A label added to the photo says "Parking info sign is behind you". On the right hand side of the car park is a tall row of conifers. On the far side of the car park are two low buildings of tan-coloured brick. Past the conifers, in front of the tan-coloured buildings, an arrow added to the photo points downwards and to the right. Its label is "To Science City via steps".

From the corner of the car park, a path leads to the steps down to Science City.

Photo: In the foreground is part of a car, and a car park space painted on the ground. A path stretches away from the corner of the car park, in between grassy lawns with a few trees. The path leads downwards and disappears over the brim of the hillside. In the distance are buildings.

The steps, and a view of where you’re going.

Photo: a view from the top of a long flight of steps. There are about twelve steps, then a landing, then about twelve more. The edge of each step has a white line. Each side of the steps has green banister railings. At the bottom of the steps, a road runs across the photo. Before the road is a short piece of green railing to stop people accidentally walking into the road. There is a zebra crossing slightly to the left of the end of the steps. Across the side-to-side road, another road continues on in the same direction as the steps. Buildings can be seen at the end of this road. A building slightly to the left of the end of this road is labelled on the photo "Science library".

The library gives your bearings for what I’ve called the “front way in” to Science City.