Salop

I spent a very enjoyable weekend in Shropshire. Did you know that Much Wenlock is the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games? A resident of that town, Dr William Penny Brookes (1809-1895), led a campaign to put Physical Education into the school curriculum and this cause brought him into contact with Baron Pierre de Coubertin. In 1890 de Coubertin came to stay with Dr Brookes in Much Wenlock and the town staged a mock Olympic Games in his honour. This inspired the Baron to set up the International Olympic Committee in 1894 which was followed by the Athens Olympic Games in 1896.