The "Cotswold Olimpicks" of 1612
How British Olympic history started 400 years ago with the games held in the Cotswolds.
As London prepares to hold the 2012 Olympics, Sporting Witness goes back four centuries to the first ever games held in Britain - the "Cotswold Olimpicks".
The games - which included everything from tossing the caber to shin-kicking - were organised by Robert Dover in the small village of Chipping Campden.
Sarah Cuddon visits the modern version of the Cotswold Games and learns how they inspired the finest poets of the age.
PHOTO: Sheaf-throwing, an Olympic sport in the Cotswolds. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Broadcasts
- Fri 30 Dec 2011 23:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online
- Sat 31 Dec 2011 06:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online
- New Year's Day 2012 22:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online
- Mon 2 Jan 2012 03:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online
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