Remote English town Wenlock permeates in Olympic dreams

LONDON - The small town in central England was little known even to many British people before the London Olympic mascot took its name.

But it is from Much Wenlock that the idea of Olympic started, when, 123 years ago, a whiskered old man received a young gentleman inside a red building.

The young man was Baron Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic Games, while the old man was named William Penny Brookes.

A tale of two persons

Much Wenlock, with a population of barely some 2,600, is near Birmingham but has no rail services. A drive from the nearest railway station to the town would take about 20 minutes.

Brookes was remembered in the town as an eminent doctor, who set up the Wenlock Olympian Class in 1950, so as to "promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighborhood of Wenlock...by the encouragement of out-door recreation and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings".

Photo Slide: London Olympic mascot named after small town Much Wenlock.

The first Wenlock Olympian Games were staged eight months later.

"The Wenlock Games is what inspires the modern Olympics," said Simon MacVicker, Chairman of Wenlock Olympian Society.

Success of the Wenlock Games apparently fuelled the ambition of Dr Brookes. "He worked many years to have his idea expanded across UK and internationally," MacVicker said.

A big move of the doctor was to meet with Coubertin, a man 54 years younger than him. They met in the former residence of Dr Brookes was a three-storey red building, which is now a private apartment.

Fortunately, some of the letters between Coubertin and Brookes are kept by the Raven hotel not far from the building, where visitors could get a glimpse of their exchanges centuries ago.

"I have called a meeting of the members of the Wenlock Olympian Society to...consider the various propositions contained in the circulars you sent me," in one of the letters, Brookes said.

"You will, I feel assured, have their considerable concurrence via the establishment of an international Olympian Association and the arrangement that such gatherings shall be held in rotation in or near the capitals of all nations joining in the movement," he said.

In 1890, a gathering was held on the second floor of the hotel, where Coubertin announced that "it wasn't down to a Greek that the Olympic flame was still burning brightly, but down to our provincial doctor, doctor William Penny Brookes," said Kirk Heywood, owner of the hotel, to Xinhua.

With the pass of time, the hotel became derelict, until Heywood took it over 22 years ago. Many people visit the hotel as a mecca to pay tribute to the great minds, like Jonathan Edwards, former British triple jumper who still holds the world record and stayed there last weekend.

Of course the doctor couldn't see that now. In fact, Brookes even didn't live to see his life-long Olympic dream realized. He died in the December of 1895, four months before the first Olympic Games were held.

"I wish I were younger and able to have the pleasure of being present at your Congress," he had told Courbertin in a letter. The yellowed letter is still on the wall of the Raven.

Strong connection

Opposite to the former residence of Brookes was the Holy Trinity Church, where Dr Brookes was buried. His grave and his family grave lay side-by-side, both surrounded by blue fences in the shape of laurel vine. Despite the rain on Saturday, someone placed a bouquet of lily by the graves.

A marble tablet was positioned on the wall of the church just inside the door. It was made by the town hall in 1896 for Brookes posthumously, for "what a wonderful person he was and how helped the town," said Chris Cannon, archivist of the Wenlock Olympian Society.

"It carried the words of physical education at the center, because that was what he advocated throughout his lifetime," Cannon said.

"If you notice, it doesn't mention the word 'Olympics', because after he died, the Games in 1896 was very small, people didn't realize what important thing he has done."

This seemed unbelievable today, when the town pride itself so much in its connection with the Olympics.

Normally tranquil and idyllic, it was suddenly lit up recently with revelry as the Olympic Games are approaching.

Bands were singing at the central square of the town while vendors set up tents along main streets and canvassing. Roaming in the town, you might bump into a "doctor Brookes", who, with a white-whiskered mask, would greet you warmly, and "diagnose" for you.

Five students from the William Brookes School, in Victorian dresses, drafted a role play of the doctor's life story and were performing outside his former residence.

"He was a great man and through this play, we want to tell people how he helped the community and spread his idea internationally," said 18-year-old Genny Copper, who played Brookes.