You Thought It Was All Greek, But Apparently Things Are A Little Different

You would have to be living on a different planet not to know that 2012 was the year that London and many parts of Britain came alive, celebrating the success of the Olympic Games. 

There were high levels of bookings in all sectors of the British holiday industry,  particularly in places that were close to the events themselves. There is now a fair bit of navel examination going on, but it seems that there is a “legacy” of some sort, and coupled with the Queen’s Jubilee, 2012 was definitely a great year for Britain … poor weather aside that is!

Meanwhile, Greece is hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it always prides itself on being one of the “cradles of civilisation” and the “birth place of the modern Olympiad”.  The birthplace it certainly is, with the date of 776 BC marking the first games in the city of Olympia.

Much Wenlock has an Olympian history

Held in honour of Zeus, it was originally a games with just one race, although it was expanded to include chariot racing (think Ben Hur at this point!) From 720 BC onwards, competitors apparently took part in the nude,  which makes you wonder where today's athletes would put their sponsor's logo! What we would now call the “ancient” Olympics came to an end in the fourth or fifth century AD.

So where is this rambling blog leading to I here you cry? Well hold your horses (another chariot based technical term), and you will shortly see how we arrive at the modern spectacle, a multi-event extravaganza said to be costing some four or five times more than the proposed budget. There are people in Britain who can answer that question for you, and a lot of them live in the lovely Shropshire town of Much Wenlock.

In 1860, Dr. William Penny Brooks, who was a well regarded surgeon who also had interests in botany and education, set up the first Wenlock Olympian Games in Much Wenlock in order to promote physical education. Despite warnings that it would lead to rioting, lewd behaviour and drunkenness (a bit like soccer, really)  it  became quite a success story.

In 1890 the Wenlock Olympian Games were attended by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in his capacity as an organiser of an International Congress for Physical Education. He was so taken by what he found that in 1896 the Summer Olympics were held in Athens, having been arranged  by the Baron's International Olympic Committee, a title that is still in use today.

The celebratory dinner in 1890 was held in honour of Baron de Coubertin at the Raven Hotel, a building that survives to  today, and if you are in the area, you could do far worse than pay the hotel a visit to see original correspondence between Sir William and the Baron, and take the opportunity to enjoy something off the splendid menu.

The Wenlock Olympian Games continue to this day, having been honoured by visits from the Princess Royal in 1990, and Juan Antonio Samaranch for the IOC in 1994. Perhaps this vivid connection to the modern Olympics explains why one of the two mascots for the 2012  meeting was called Wenlock.

Take in the delights of this lovely Shropshire town. The county is becoming increasingly popular as a tourist destination, and towns such as Ludlow and Shrewsbury combine modern hustle and bustle with a long and well documented history. Shropshire promotes itself as a “walker friendly” county, with many well marked paths and trails to follow. The early Victorian tourists discovered Church Stretton and nicknamed it “Little Switzerland”

Browse through the Properties section on Brit Breaks and find a property that would suit your holiday needs. You won't regret it!

                                                  Learn some more about Much Wenlock

                                                        Wenlock Olympian Games 2014