Let the sack racing begin!
When London hosts the Olympics in 2012, a small Cotswold town will be celebrating the 400th birthday of its own unique version of the games. Zeena Lemon pays it a visit
In 1612, Robert Dover initiated the Cotswold Olimpick Games--an event
described by the British Olympic Association as "the pre-dawn of the Olympic movement".
Not a bad claim to fame for the small Cotswold town of Chipping Campden, which revels once a year in the spectacle of olde-English games on nearby Dover Hill, plus morris dancing, fireworks and a torchlight procession to the town square.
Held on June 2 this year, the event includes sack-racing, tugs-of-war, sledgehammer throwing, shot putting and even the painful-sounding shin-kicking.
The tradition has been kept going with only a few breaks--in the 17th Century for the Civil War, in 1852 due to "rowdyism" and, more recently, for the foot-and-mouth epidemic.
Organiser Francis Burns says: "The Dover Olimpicks is unique, not only because it has such an auspicious history but because it keeps 17th century games and celebrations alive in the 21st century."
So the next time you see the famous five rings of the Olympic movement, remember that on a hill near you the very essence of the games is still played out each year.
More information: www.olimpickgames.co.uk
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