Cotswold Olympicks celebrate 400th anniversary
Date Posted: 24/05/12
Robert Dover's Cotswold Olympicks celebrates its 400th anniversary this summer with an exciting programme of events to honour the birth of the English Olympics movement.
It was in 1612 that Mr Dover first organised an annual sporting event to pay homage the ancient games in Greece. Then held at Chipping Campden, there was an array of events a far cry from those taking place at London 2012 this summer.
Attendees witnessed some decidedly English sports four centuries ago, such as shin-kicking and tug-of-war.
The Olympick Games marked the "pre-dawn of the Olympic Movement". It was where the seed was sown for the creation of the modern games.
Some 400 years later, sports fans can honour the first Olympick Games by booking short breaks to the beautiful hills in the south-west for Friday, June 1st.
There they will be able to see competitors battle out in many events similar to those that took place in 1612.
The proceedings are not all about sport either, there will be an array of Jacobean entertainers in period costume, a climbing wall, face painting, a choir, fireworks and a torch-lit procession.
Posted by Becky Spence
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