3. THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN GAMES
3.1. FROM A READING SOCIETY TO AN OLYMPIAN SOCIETY

William Penny Brookes was an outstanding person of his region, also called the “King of Shropshire”. Having received an excellent education himself in Britain and France, he always showed a deep interest in education of the young generation in his county and in whole Britain.
In 1841 Dr. Brookes founded the Agricultural Reading Society. It was Brookes`s aim to create a kind of lending library for “the promotion and diffusion of useful information, excluding Political works, Novels, and Works on Controversial Divinity” to the inhabitants of his town.
Dr. Brookes became the 1st President of this Society. He asked many famous people for support and got a lot of books and donations for his Society.

Later from the Society evolved various classes, e.g. the Art, Philharmonic and Bo-tany Classes. William Penny Brookes personally was very interested in ancient history and culture. He was very enthusiastic about the ancient Olympic Games in Olympia and considered this Greek tradition to be worth reviving.

In 1850 W.P. Brookes established the Much Wenlock Olympian Class. Its objective was to “promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the Town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially the Working Classes by the en- couragement of out-door re-creation and by the award of prizes    annually at Public Meetings for skill in Athletic exercise, and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainment”. The same year the first Games were held in Much Wenlock (see 3.2.)
In 1860 this class separated from the Agricultural Reading Society. From this year on it was called the Wenlock Olympian Society.

Through the initiative of W.P. Brookes the Shropshire Olympian Society was founded in 1861.
It was his idea to hold the Shropshire Games in a different town each year. Coubertin liked this town-to-town itinerant idea and applied it later to city-to-city for the modern Olympic Games.

Finally, in 1865 there was the foundation of the National Olympian Society “for
promoting physical education”. One of the members of its 1st committee was Dr. William Penny Brookes. The Association` s motto was: “Civium vires civitatis vis” (The power of the state lies in the strength of its citizens).

3.2. THE FIRST GAMES

In 1850 the history of the modern Olympic Games started.
Dr. W.P. Brookes who had read a lot about the ancient Greek Games wanted to revive them and so he organized the 1st Wenlock Olympian Games.

1. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN CLASS

In ” EDDOWES’S JOURNAL” (October 30th, 1850) we can find an article about the first Wenlock Olympian Games which were held on Thursday and Wednesday the 22nd and 23rd October in 1850.
They were opened with a great ceremony where all competitors and organizers were involved. There were strict rules concerning drunkenness or misbehaving oneself.
It is said that Sir Samuel Meyrick was doing an experiment in which they found out that the majority of the “degenerate moderns” can’t dress the armour worn by their ancestors.
The President of the Academy in Berlin, Mr. Waagen, declared that you can find the most perfect model of the strongest male and most beautiful female body in England.
It was often claimed by the opponents that the public Olympic Games were often visi-ted by English workers for the only aim: to drink, to make terror and to destroy pro-perty. Later the men of Wenlock proved that this assertion was ungenerous and untrue.
Mr. Edward Crowther had gratuitously allowed them to use his fields. Mr. Brookes was sure that the competitors would show their evidence by not destroying his property.

The Olympic Games began with a cricket match for a prize of 22 Shilling. The prize for the player who obtained the greatest score was awarded to Thomas Yates. As there was such a great enthusiasm Lord John Manner donated 1 Pound for a game which should be chosen by the Olympian Committee.
All the people were deeply impressed by the procession near the Guildhall where there were given 3 cheers for Mr. Brookes.
Because of the success  of the 1st games the society looked confidently in the future of the Much Wenlock Games.

2. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN CLASS
This is an excerpt from the Shrewsbury Chronicle, October 3th, 1851

Olympic Class Of The Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society
The second anual meeting was held on the Race- course in Much Wenlock, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week . The Tuesday morning began with a firing of canon and a merry peal from the old church tower. All members met in the Guildhall at 10 o´clock. They went through the streets with flags and banners. There was held a big ceremony by the organizing team. Many people were carrying flowers, grain and crowns of flowers.

3. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN CLASS

3.3. SOME STATISTICS FROM THE 19TH CENTURY

17.ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPICAN SOCIETY

27. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN SOCIETY

Exerpt from: “The Shrewsbury Chronicle”  August 17th, 1877

The meeting  of the National Olympian Association
The annual meeting of the National Olympian Association was held in conjunction with the flower show, on Wednesday and Thursday, and like it suffered greatly by the weather. The president of the society was Lord Harlech.
“The contest took place on the cricket ground in the Quarry on that day. The ground lay low, was uneven, and worse than all, was very imperfectly drained. The result was that during the terrific thunderstorm which prevailed the water, which ran from the higher parts of the Quarry, in miniature rivers, soon collected on the racing ground, and covered nearly the whole of it..”
The most attractive prize was a silver cup, which was exceedingly handsome. Among them was one presented, through William Penny Brookes, of Wenlock, by the King of Greece, and on it was this inscription in Greek:
"George I., King of the Hellenes
unto .......................................
the man of the pentathlon who, at the modern Olympia of the British,
contested and won in Shrewsbury,
the month of August, 1877"

38. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN SOCIETY

45. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WENLOCK OLYMPIAN SOCIETY

3.4. THE 113TH WENLOCK OLYMPIAN GAMES

THE PROGRAMME OF THE 113th ANNUAL WENLOCK OLYMPIAN GAMES

Friday, 9th July 1999

Saturday, 10th July 1999

Sunday, 11th July 1999

Monday, 12th July 1999

ATHLETIC PROGRAMME

Organised by Wenlock Olympians AC under AAA (Amateur Athletics Association) rules

RESULTS OF THE 113TH WENLOCK OLYMPIAN GAMES

Further results see Archives Much Wenlock!

The 113th Wenlock Olympian Games took place on the weekend of July the 9th and 11th 1999 in Much Wenlock.

On Saturday the competitions were held in table tennis, volleyball and bowls.
We, the pupils of the Pierre-de-Coubertin-Gymnasium Erfurt, took part with a volleyball team (Petra Klemm, Melanie Albert, Nora Höhn, Julia Holzmüller, Björn Ebersoll and Kay Wronka) and two table tennis players (Jürgen Leu and Marian Schmalz).
The volleyball team was successful with a 2nd place, while the table tennis players brought out an ”Olympian Winner”. Marian Schmalz played brilliantly and kept his nerves throughout his matches. We were also pleased that Jürgen Leu won the 3rd place.

THE ONLY OLYMPIAN CHAMPION OF OUR SCHOOL

Marian won the table tennis competition in the 113th Wenlock Olympian Games, but the way to the final was a long one. Already in the first tree games he had to fight against strong opponents to achieve the quarter final.
After winning the quarter final he had to play against his friend and training comrade Jürgen Leu. Nobody of them showed weakness and it was an exciting game. In the last decisive set Marian could succeed tightly with 15 to 13 points against Jürgen. Now the way to the final was open. In the final he likewise needed three sets against a table tennis trainer from Much Wenlock. This coach trains the second best junior table– tennis-player in England. But Marian defeated him with bravour and it was an honour for him having taken part in these Wenlock Olympian Games and even to win the competition.
CONGRATULATION !

On Sunday the competitions in fencing, archery and the track and field events took place. Our pupils of the Pierre-de-Coubertin-Gymnasium Erfurt took part in the 7-Mile-Road-Race, 800m, 200m and 100m races.
Björn Ebersoll, Christian Seifert, Jürgen Leu and Julia Holzmüller ran the 7-Mile-Road-Race. Björn was the fastest German, but in all only the 29th of 200 participants. All participants of the 7-Mile-Road-Race received a medal.
In the other competitions medals were won by Robert Lehmann (2nd place in 800m), Thomas Hausmann (3rd place in 200m) and Nora Höhn (3rd place in 100m).
In our view the competitions were very successful, because all our sportsmen have other special disciplines – they are not “real athletes“ – and so they had to improvise.

3.5. FAMOUS SPORTSMEN, OFFICIALS AND GUESTS

THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Apart from the competitions, we worked for our ”Much Wenlock Project”.
Some pupils made a survey with participants in the Wenlock Olympian Games. It was difficult to find people who wanted to take part in this survey. In the end we found 14 participants.
The Questionnaire consisted of 10 questions:

Evaluation of the Questionnaire:
The participants were aged 11 to 44 years.
Of the 14 participants in the survey, only two were pupils of the William Brookes School and 13 of them were members of a sports club.
When asked why the Wenlock Olympian Games were important for them five of them said they took part to have fun and four said they liked to win a medal. The others gave no statement.
On average they had taken part in the Wenlock Olympian Games 2,5 times and nine of them said they took part every year.
All in all four of them said they had won a competition at the Wenlock Olympian Games.
To be successful, seven trained all the year and five of them trained on average for two months for the Wenlock Olympian Games.
Unfortunately, only 50% of the participants on this survey knew that William Penny Brookes was the founder of the Wenlock Olympian Games.

INTERVIEWS WITH FAMOUS OFFICIALS

During the Wenlock Olympian Games we did not only take part in the competitions, but we also worked on our project to get more information about the history, organisation and the future of the Wenlock Olympian Games, we interviewed some members of the Olympian Society. We interviewed Dr. Don Anthony, who came to Much Wenlock specially, because he wanted to see the Wenlock Olympian Games. Furthermore we asked some questions to Mr. Les Pinder and to Mr. Norman Wood. We also interviewed the Dr. of History Helen Cromarty. She has dealt with the life and work of William Penny Brookes for a long time.

DR. DON ANTHONY,
president of the British Volleyball Association and
President of the British Olympic Association

Since when have you been a member of the Olympian Society and what are the reasons for it?
I'm a live member of the Wenlock Olympian Society only a year. The reasons for it is that I have supported the Wenlock Olympian Society for about 20 years, since I first discovered it.
Have you ever taken part in the Wenlock Olympian Games (W.O.G.) personally?
No, because I didn't hear about it until I was over 50.
Do you think that physical education in school is important?
Yes, because I enjoyed all my life. I worked in the University training physical education people and the most important I did was to train 1000 physical education people.
If you could, would you change anything, concerning the education?
If I could I would make sure that all money in sports is put into much better situations than to make a few people millionaires.
Do you have special dreams or ideas concerning the future of the W.O.G.?
I think if the Olympic Idea is been saved, the Olympic Idea must go back to education. If it does not go back to education were it began, it is in great danger.
Is it difficult to organise the W.O.G.?
It is difficult, because fewer and fewer people will do things except for money. But here the whole idea and the whole idea of British sport was from people who did it for the community.
What was the largest number of participants in the history of the W.O.G.?
I don't know how many participants, but when they had the railway coming from Birmingham to Much Wenlock, more than 10,000 people came from Birmingham to Much Wenlock and that had been wonderful.
How many regions do the athletes come from?
I think the Games region is Shropshire and Birmingham. In the beginning the people came from London, from Liverpool and from Birmingham. A hundred years ago Much Wenlock was a centre of sporting activity.

MR. LES PINDER,
secretary of the Olympian Society and
organiser of the Wenlock Olympian Games this year

Since when have you been a member of the Olympian Society and what are the reasons for it?
I moved to Much Wenlock 5 years ago and within a year they drew me into the Society. The idea is to encourage sport and to bring it on the younger people. Above all, to keep the spirit of the Olympic Movement going.
Is the number of sportsmen increasing?
It depends on the popularity of the sport at the time. If it is popular, you get a lot of people. If it is not, then it drops and something else increases.
Have you ever taken part in the W.O.G. personally?
No, but I did sport a little bit in the past.
Do you think that physical education in school is important?
It’s very important. It’s a realisation and it’s also fitness. You can’t sit at a desk all day long. You’ve got to get physical education, physical regulation for the body. It also helps

your mind, because it helps you to concentrate more in the school if you've taken part in physical activities as well as sitting at a desk hard at work.
If you could, would you change anything, concerning the education?
I wish it were less professional and we could go back to the old spirit of the sport. For all sport is important and not the money you can get from it.
Do you have special dreams or ideas concerning the future of the W.O.G.?
I would like to see more different sports like swimming, and tennis.
Is it difficult to organise the W.O.G.?
This is my first year. It’s a lot of work, because I didn’t know quite what to expect. There are a lot of people who do individual sports and they helped, they were available.
When did you start organising them?
I started last October. I started writing letters and organising things.
Did you enjoy it?
Yes, it’s a challenge.
How many regions do the athletes come from?
I have people coming from Cardiff, Manchester as well as Birmingham. They are coming from regions over 100 Miles away.

MR. NORMAN WOOD,
president of the Wenlock Olympian Society

Since when have you been a member of the Olympian Society and what are the reasons for it?
I started in 1953. For the first 15-16 years I was a chairman of the sports section, because I was head of physical education at school. In 1977 I became secretary and I’m still I am.
Have you ever taken part in the Wenlock Olympian Games personally?
No, I was 31 when I came here and I was a footballer and a cricket player and not an athlete.
Do you think that physical education in school is important?
I think, it is very important, more than the politicians think. Because I believe in the Greek statement ”a healthy mind and a healthy body is most important, if you want a healthy nation”.
If you could, would you change anything, concerning the education?
I would change that fact that sport is restricted to so little time a week. The maximum here is two hours a week. I think, if you do one hour at every day it would be better.
Do you have special dreams or ideas concerning the future of the W.O.G.?
I think we will continue to change. If we don’t change as world is changing we will die. That’s why we had golf for the first time in it this year. The more sport we put in, the more people are involved and the more successful you are going to be.
How many regions the athletes come from?
They come from the whole country - nationwide.

MRS. HELEN CROMARTY,
public relations and sponsorship secretary of the Wenlock Olympian Society

Since when have you been a member of the Olympian Society?
I joined in 1993.
Have you ever taken part in the W.O.G. personally?
No, I just like to watch.
Do you know how many days the Games were held in the past?
Usually, they were a one day event. Sometimes they held two, but it was very rare. It was usually just one day.
Why don't we have those nice ceremonies and processions like in the 19th century?
Well, the ceremonies and processions took time and Brookes liked to give people something to watch and something to do. Nowadays we have the TV, we can watch all the Olympic processions and they are fantastic. I think nowadays people want to participate in the Games. People don't want to see processions.
Do you have special dreams or ideas concerning the future of the W.O.G.?
One of my dreams was the realizing of a golf competition. I want to introduce icehockey and a big ambition is to reintroduce tennis, because I think it is an excellent sport.

FAMOUS VISITORS

This year the 113th Wenlock Olympian Games were held.
The inhabitants of this small town can look at nearly 150 years full of excitement and traditions. They are very proud of their “Olympian Games” and its founder Dr. William Penny Brookes.
Although there are International Games nowadays that millions of people watch on TV all over the world, the Wenlock Olympian Games still attrack thousands of competitors and spectators every year. To honour  the lifework of W.P. Brookes, some famous     visitors came to this small town in Shropshire.

In 1986 when Much Wenlock celebrated the 100th Games the grand-nephew of Pierre   de Coubertin, Geoffroy de Navacelle, came to visit them as the guest of honour.

In 1990 the inhabitants of Much Wenlock celebrated the centenary of the visit of Pierre de Coubertin. That is why Her Royal Highness Princess Ann, member of the British Olympian Association (B.O.A.), came as a guest of honour. Especially for her the most exciting contest, the Tilting, was revived once more.

In 1994 on occasion of the Centenary of the Congress at the Sorbonne, where Pierre de Coubertin announced his plans of reviving the ancient Olympic Games, his Excellency Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the I.O.C. came to visit Much Wenlock.
He laid down a wreath at W.P. Brookes´s grave. With the plant of a tree he paid tribute and homage to Brookes as the real founder of the modern Olympic Games.

Dr. Don Anthony, President of the British Volleyball Association and President of the British Olympic Association visited the Games for many times.
In July 1999 we had the chance to get an interview.

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