Shropshire children to discover county’s Olympian heritage

Shropshire’s primary and secondary school children are to learn about the county’s important place in the history of the Olympian movement in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics.

In 1864 Dr William Penny Brookes brought his Shropshire Olympian Festival to Shrewsbury’s Quarry Park from its home in Much Wenlock because he wanted to develop the games and improve the lives of ‘every grade’ of person across
the county.

To coincide with the recreation of the Festival on 17-19 June 2011, a new Shropshire Olympian Festival education resource pack is to be distributed to all the schools in Shropshire.

Developed by Shropshire Council with the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the resource pack provides an insight into the world in which Dr William Penny Brookes lived and worked. It shows how he encouraged children and adults to have fun as well as leading a healthier life by joining in the Wenlock and Shropshire Olympian Games.

The pack also helps us reflect on the way people lived, how hard life could be, and the importance of the work of men like Dr Brookes in improving the lives of the people of Shropshire.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said:

“A lot of children have heard of Dr William Penny Brookes, but they are perhaps not quite so aware of the extraordinary significance of his work and legacy, which became the inspiration for the modern Olympic movement.”

Jonathan Pygott, Headteacher of Broseley Primary School, said:

“There is a fantastic amount of archive material here which we can use to cover just about every subject in the curriculum. This is a wonderful resource and we will use it with our children to build up towards the Shropshire Olympian Festival schools day on 17 June and give it some context.”

Shropshire schools have already been invited to participate in the Shropshire Olympian Festival on 17 June and over 41 schools and 2000 children have already registered an interest.

Chris Cannon, Chairman of the Wenlock Olympian Society said

“The Shropshire Olympian Festival gives everyone in Shropshire the opportunity to celebrate the role that this county had in inspiring people to join together and lead healthier lives through sport and the arts, especially as the time approaches when the world comes to London to the share in Brookes Olympian dream in 2012.”

There are lots of chances for local people to get involved. This is Shropshire’s very own Olympian Festival, where people from all over the county can come together to have fun and celebrate Shropshire’s great role in the Olympian history.

For details of how to get involved look on www.shropshire1864.org.uk