Durham Cathedral Tower

The photo was taken from the central tower of Durham Cathedral.

 To get to the top you need to climb 325 steps, which takes a good bit of puff! You start from a corner of the south transept, where you pay your £5.00 and confirm to the stewards that you are sufficiently sound in wind and limb to make the climb. 

Young children are not allowed up, and you are advised not to do so if you have heart problems or are pregnant. Rescuing someone who has collapsed on a narrow spiral staircase would be a real problem, so you can appreciate why these precautions are necessary.

The first part of the climb is on a fairly wide spiral staircase, but when you reach the top of the transept you go along a short passage that takes you to the central tower. The staircase from this point is much narrower than the first one and quite claustrophobic. There are only a couple of places where it is easy to pass someone coming the other way, so you may either have to retrace your steps or get quite friendly with a total stranger.

At one point the spiral changes from right-hand to left-hand, but this does not last long before it changes back again. You may find yourself getting a bit dizzy with all these tight circles, especially on the way down.

When you get to the top you can spend as long as you like looking out over the city and the countryside beyond. There is nowhere in Durham that is even close to this in terms of height, so this is easily the best vantage point. You just have to hope that the weather hasn’t changed for the worse as you were making your way up!

© John Welford