This is a sponsored article on behalf of Secret Adventures.
Ever been to a cinema 50ft below ground, more than 190 years old, Grade II* listed and once described as the Eighth Wonder of the World? Didn't think so. Secret Adventures is inviting you to do just that, and we think you'll love it...
Picture the scene: it's the 1820s, and London is the epicentre of global trade. The city needs a new river crossing, but a bridge would obstruct the thousands of tall masted ships traversing the Thames. The only way across was to dig deep and build a tunnel — all good, except for one tiny detail... nobody had tunnelled under a river before.
Brunel rose to the challenge, opening the Thames Tunnel to foot traffic in 1843. When it opened, more than one million visitors came to visit from all over the world, making it the world's most popular visitor attraction at the time. Subsequently given over to railway use, the tunnel was then closed off to visitors for decades, and the Rotherhithe shaft — originally intended to be the tunnel's grand entrance hall — used for ventilation.
Well, until now, that is. The shaft was recently capped off as part of the tunnel's conversion to London Overground, and is now open to visitors once more — and Secret Adventures, known for loving the out-of-the-ordinary, is inviting you take a trip 50ft deep for an adventure film screening like no other.
The adventure starts above ground in the Brunel Museum's cosy roof garden, with the obligatory camp fire and marshmallows to kick things off. The Cocktail Gardener is on hand to serve up wild cocktails and honey beer, and make sure to get your fill of authentic Greek street food too — Pan London sure know how to cook up a treat.
You'll then head deep beneath your feet for the main event: a screening of three short adventure documentaries (The Swimming Granny, North Of The Sun, And Then We Swam), right in the heart of Brunel's iron shaft. The films, which have totted up 22 awards between them, are certainly befitting of such a location: each follows the story of an unlikely adventurer, including an 85 year old granny who swims daily in the sea, two Norwegians who take up residence on an isolated beach, and a novice rowing duo who decide to conquer the Indian Ocean in a second hand boat.
If the sound of that has got your adrenaline pumping, you can purchase tickets and view the full range of dates on the Secret Adventures website. We'd heartily recommend it to any budding urban adventurer — it really is a cinema experience like no other, and between them, these short films are sure to leave you eager to start an adventure of your own.
Adventure Films Underground is on at the Brunel Museum Shaft on 15 February 2018, and every Thursday in March through until May. Tickets are just £25, which includes entry to the shaft, roof garden and film screening.
