An Olympian effort to attract visitors to Shropshire

While gold medals will be handed out in London in 2012 for being "swifter, higher, stronger", there is a need to look to the history books - and to the picturesque Shropshire market town of Much Wenlock, 150-miles away - to see who won the very first medals for hurdling, rifle shooting and even 'tilting'.

Shropshire may appear an unlikely place to find the origins of the modern international Olympic Games, yet it was here, in 1850, that Dr William Penny Brookes first founded the Wenlock Olympian Society.

Now, 160 years later Much Wenlock's role has even provided the inspiration behind one of the 2012 London Olympic mascots unveiled in a blaze of global publicity.

Born on August 13th, 1809, in Much Wenlock, Dr Brookes studied medicine in London, Paris and Padua in Italy before returning to take over his father's medical practice. Following in the Ancient Greek Olympic tradition of developing the mind and body, he founded The Wenlock Olympian Games, "for the promotion of moral, physical and intellectual improvement".

The Olympian Games included Greek Classical and country sports like running, quoits, football and cricket, but there was always a competition for 'juveniles' and a fun competition - once a 'blind wheelbarrow racing', and another year 'an old woman's race for a pound of tea'. Pageantry was always an important part of the entertainment - including a colourful procession led by a band, followed by the athletes, officials and spectators, and the presentation of medals, prizes and olive crowns to the winners.

A visitor to the 1890 Olympian Games was Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the acknowledged founder of the modern Olympic Games, who later wrote "and of the Olympic Games, which modern Greece has not yet revived, it is not a Greek to whom one is indebted, but rather Dr W. P. Brookes".

And in 1994 - as part of the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic movement - the President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch came to Much Wenlock "because this is where the modern Olympics started".

Today, visitors to Much Wenlock will find a small display of photographs and memorabilia relating to the Olympian Games in the town's museum, a plaque, and trees planted by The Queen, Baron Pierre de Coubertin and Princess Anne - as well as the magnificent 15th century Guildhall where Brookes presided as a magistrate for over 40 years.

Visitors can also follow a 2,100-metres Olympian Trail, which starts and finishes at the Much Wenlock Museum. Specially produced bronze markers in the pavements, and an Olympian Trail leaflet, highlight this route and guide visitors around the town, pointing out all of the sites and historic buildings associated with the story.

Today, the Modern Olympic Games are held every four years. But the Wenlock Olympian Games still take place every year, during the second week of July. The 125th Games are scheduled for July, 2011.