THE RAVEN HOTEL, MUCH WENLOCK AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES (Continued)
Many years later, Baron Pierre de Coubertain, the man often credited with the modern Olympic revival, visited Britain to try to find out more about sport in English public schools. Brookes learned of Coubertain’s visit and invited the Frenchman to see the Much Wenlock Olympian Society’s Games. Coubertain was impressed with what he saw, and sat up with Brookes long into the night discussing how the Wenlock Games might be translated onto a world stage.
Meetings between William Penny Brookes and Baron Pierre de Coubertain took place at The Raven Hotel (as did the feast which concluded each year’s Olympian Games), and today in The Raven Hotel there are displayed many artefacts from those early years, including original letters from Baron Pierre de Coubertain to William Penny Brookes.
The Much Wenlock Olympian Games still take place every year during August and there is even an Olympian Trail so that visitors can re-live the history of what has now become the greatest sporting event in the world.
Read about the celebratory event on Saturday, 31st July 2010 which reunited members of the 1960’s summer Olympics team and was organised by former British Olympic Walker, Eric Hall with the Wenlock Olympian Society, who were delighted to welcome over 40 athletes to the event.
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