Story on the Stairs

When the Royal Hallamshire Hospital was built in the seventies, the designers would not have imagined how important the stairs would be. We count 20 lifts in the central atrium. They look very impressive, but only 3 are available for the visitors and patients. Some of the patients look very ill, with drips, bandages and pyjamas. I joked that waiting for the lift was like catching a train. It's a vertical underground. A crowd gathers around the doors. After five minutes the lift arrives. The lift is full. I thought of the attendants in the Tokyo underground who push people into packed carriages. But our passengers are fragile and vulnerable.

The stairs allow just two people to pass at the same time. It's a friendly place, amply supplied with deference and goodwill. Most of the stair-climbers appear to be the staff.

'A' level is entered through the outpatient department. We walk past the reverent, empty chapel. Round the back of the lifts. Don't descend to the curiously named 'lighter activities' dept. Head up to the main hospital entrance on B level. Then continue up past the sign for Boots the chemist. Up past level D, given over to dinning and strong smells. At G level we break into the sunlight, with large windows offering greater and higher views over Western Park. Only two more levels up to I, where we are greeted by a rabbit telling us 255 climbs equals Ben Nevis, and 1567, you have climbed  Everest. How many for 'K2' level I ask?  Only two more levels to go to reach K , and Neuro Critical Care.  The staircase continues to O level and then to the roof, were we understand that there is a helipad. In the event of a fire, we have been informed, head for the roof!

View from Level K

2 more floors to go.