These steps were constructed as part of the serpentine wall built from accumulated rubbish featured earlier in the book. The concept was to design a wall without any obvious terminals as added interest to the scheme. The wall grew out of the ground, then wended its’ way like a giant serpent, twisting one way then the other, so that at no time could a definite end be seen.
Although there was nothing to be gained by climbing from one level to the other at this point in the garden – there was nothing beyond the top of the steps except the neighbour’s boundary fence – I wanted to provide an interesting further twist to the project, building some curved steps into the bank.
Using reclaimed genuine railway sleepers (there are various grades available – use only Grade 2 or 3 as anything less will be poor quality, split and cracked) each step was built without any obvious means of support. They were in fact secured using angle irons driven in to the ground and bolted through to the rear of each step to prevent movement or tilting. If required, due to ground conditions being too soft or hard, an additional length of angle iron may be added horizontally, bolted securely onto the timber, then built into the stonework on either side.
A simple example of playing with perspective.
As the steps were added, a gentle curve was created, with each sleeper reduced slightly in length, until at the top, the width had been reduced by 40% to give the illusion of greater depth and length of the flight.
The steps terminate just out of sight, with dark laurels helping to aid to the illusion of depth and mystery.
