IT’S not generally known, but had the financial breeze been blowing from another direction in the mid-1860s, Worcester could easily have been one of the cities that hosted a revived Olympic Games at the end of the 19th century. Water events on the river, running, jumping and throwing on Pitchcroft – all that was missing was an indoor arena.

Which probably means the digging and mechanical grinding currently going on in Hylton Road to create the new university sports hall has come 120 years too late.

The fact that Worcester was possibly in the frame for Olympic glory is one of the imaginative conclusions that can be drawn from a new book by Herefordshire author Catherine Beale. Born Out of Wenlock: William Penny Brookes and his Wenlock Olympian Games (Derby Books £12.99) traces the birth of the modern Olympic movement – and Worcester has a lot more to do with it than you might think.

In a nutshell, Dr Brookes (whose mother Mary Doughty came from Worcester) founded a games meeting based on the old Olympic ideals at Much Wenlock in mid- Shropshire in 1850.

There were all sorts of rustic challenges involving athleticism, bruising encounters and equestrian skills of the time.

Others might not be considered fit for family viewing in the 21st century, but no matter.

In 1890, Frenchman Baron Pierce de Coubertin dropped by Much Wenlock to see what was going on.

Four years later, de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee and in 1896, the first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens. But it could have been all so different because Worcester was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the fledgling Olympic movement.

Catherine said: “By the mid-1860s, when athleto-mania was beginning to sweep the country and gymnasia were springing up in the major towns, Worcester was keenly interested in the Wenlock goingson and their development into a National Olympian Association.

“The Worcester Journal of December 1, 1865, carried a feature on the background of the Wenlock Olympian Games and supported the development of a national association. In fact, this makes me wonder whether Worcester was considering building a gymnasium of its own at this time, which would have put it in an ideal position to host Olympic-style events.”

Brookes visited Worcester in late November of that year to drum up support for the new National Olympian Association and among those he secured as subscribers were big hitters from the city’s cultural and industrial history.

They included AC Sherriff MP, T Southall Esq (who was mayor at the time) and ex-mayor John Perrins Esq.

“Liberal subscriptions” were offered to Brookes from Worcester at a meeting he held in the city and by February 1866 it was reported that “120 gents in Shrewsbury and nearly 300 in Birmingham, Worcester and other towns” had subscribed funds.

The first NOA Games were held at Crystal Palace, London, in 1866, and the second at Portland Road Ground, Birmingham, in 1867.

For the latter, J Stallard of Worcester was on the organising committee with Brookes and others. Had Worcester gone ahead with building a gymnasium a couple of years before, it appears highly likely, in view of the obvious local support, the city would have hosted an NOA games around that time.

The Worcester Journal of Friday, June 1, 1866, carried an article on Pastimes, Ancient and Modern and also talked with enthusiasm about the NOA and about the previous week’s Wenlock Olympian Games which had “attracted several thousand persons”.

In fact, up to 10,000 spectators regularly attended the Wenlock Games. Special railway tickets were issued at Worcester to those wanting to go to Much Wenlock for the day and horticulturalists Smith of Worcester supplied Brookes with some of the trees he planted on the games field. Worcester was full of the Olympic spirit.

But there’s more. Perhaps not surprisingly as a neighbouring county, Worcestershire supplied its fair share of competitors for the Wenlock games.

One of the highlights of the programme was an event called tilting at the ring, an aerial version of the old cavalry sport of tent pegging. Instead of wooden pegs in the ground, competitors had to ride their horses bareback at a ring about the size of a 10 pence piece suspended on a piece of string from an overhanging beam and impale it with a 10ft lance.

Just to make things interesting, a couple of substantial hurdles were placed on the run-up for the horses to jump. One of the early champions at the event was William Braithwaite, of Hampton Lovett, near Droitwich.

Cycling and running were popular, with Worcester names such as J Calder, F Harris and F Hale entering the bike events – raced over distances from one mile to three – and J Chadwick, J Moore and J Critchley, all from Kidderminster, took part in flat races from 120 yards to one mile.

Other early events included hopping, blindfolded wheelbarrow pushing, sack races, spear throwing, archery, quoits and jingling, whatever that was.

In addition to the physical, there were also the “intellectual” Olympic activities such sewing, arithmetic and writing. None of which seem to be making it to London 2012.

But the most remarkable contribution to the early Olympics came from cricketer W G Grace at the Crystal Palace games in 1866, when he took time off from batting at the Oval to pop across town and win the 440 yards hurdles. Now had it been in Worcester, he would have gone from the Cinderella ground in Bransford Road to Pitchcroft. But that’s another story.