Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.

What has a small Shropshire town got to do with the modern Olympic Games? Why is a country doctor a key figure in the development of the modern games? Why is one of the 2012 mascots named Wenlock? These questions and more are being explored through materials developed to support schools in Shropshire in exploring the story of Dr William Penny Brookes, without whom the Olympic Games as we now know them would probably not exist.

The work explores the ideas and work of Penny Brookes and the Shropshire Olympic story, and has already brought to light previously forgotten information.

Penny Brookes was a doctor in Much Wenlock who spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, see pages 40-41. He worked hard to introduce P.E. into local schools, he built a local library...