Tulip Stairs

Isn't this exquisite?  It's a staircase in the Queen's House in Greenwich. It's called the Tulip Stairs because the wrought iron rail has tulip (or probably fleurs-de-lis) motifs in it. It soars upwards for three or four floors towards a glass cupola that lets the daylight shine right down. It seems to look even prettier in the photo than it did in real life, because of the spiral effect. When you are actually there looking at it, your eye more or less compensates in a way that the camera lens doesn't.  Apparently it was 'the first geometric self-supporting spiral stair in Britain' (whatever that means!) It is reputed to harbour a ghost, after a tourist spotted shrouded figures on his photograph in 1966... but  you won't see one on my photo.