Descent into Underland, the film of Robert Macfarlane’s book

Just off the B3134 in Somerset is a portal to the underworld. Through the Tradesman’s Entrance of Goatchurch Cavern I squeeze, tumble on my bum over damp rock and lacerate a jumpsuit, following film-maker Robert Petit as he shows me what he has been filming for the past five years: an endearingly poetic documentary called Underland that riffs on Robert Macfarlane’s 2019 subterranean travelogue.

We head 100ft down to the Boulder Chamber, where over sugary snacks Petit says, “Some fear is good,” but warns that “Hyperventilating takes away the oxygen.” Many who go down feel the upside-down is the right way up; Bradley Garrett, one of Petit’s protagonists, savours the smell he “most associates with freedom.” Petit feels free underground too—“And not just because there’s no wifi,” he laughs—adding that time “thickens and slows.” He has alerted Mendip Cave Rescue to send a team if we do not surface by 3.30pm.

underland, robert macfarlane, robert petit, goatchurch cavern, boulder chamber, bradley garrett, somerset, cave rescue, subterranean travelogue, documentary