Memories~ Jun ~ Chaiko~: queen's tower tour

An extract from Wikipedia:
The Queen's Tower is situated in the South Kensington campus of Imperial College, London, England. It is 287 feet tall with a copper covered dome at its top. To reach the base of the dome from the ground on foot, one must ascend a series of narrow spiral staircases, which comprise 324 steps in total.

The Tower used to be the central tower of the Imperial Institute, and is now its sole remaining building. The Institute was founded on Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, and its demolition began in 1957. In 1966, the tower was repaired to enable it to stand on its own. There are also two stone lions at the foot of the tower, which were once set at the entrance to the Imperial Institute.

There are ten bells hung for change ringing in the belfry of the tower, about two thirds of the way up. These bells, known collectively as the Alexandra Peal, were a gift from Mrs Elizabeth M. Millar of Australia in 1892, and are named after Queen Victoria — the tenor (largest) bell — and members of her family. They are rung on Royal Anniversaries and on the dates of the Imperial College degree ceremonies.

The highest viewing gallery is below the dome at the top of the building. Upon walking through the door you get the unique view of seeing the top of the Albert Memorial on top of the Albert Hall.

Being one of the tallest towers in the west of London, the Queen's Tower enjoys an uninterrupted view in all directions.
On any reasonably clear day one can all see the bowl effect of the seven hills on which the original city of Londinium was built by the Romans, on which now stands the City of Westminster.
The viewing gallery has been open to the public at various times. It is currently closed.

However, i got to go up there today! imperial opened the queens tower and ran 30 minute slots where tours were given during lunch for the whole week. the tour was at a cost of 3 pounds per person...
with hundreds of spiral stairs in such narrow pathways and the strong stale scent of dust, pohshen, ming, tieng n i set our journey out to the top!