A mighty British oak casts a benign shadow over a school playing field. Beneath its generous canopy a unique and perhaps quintessentially English community sports celebration.

Some 70 miles to the south internal rivalry seems to dominate at Silverstone. Thousands of miles further in the same direction finds Soccer City hosting a somewhat ill-tempered World Cup Final. 

For a purer illustration of what sport is really about – and indeed a reminder that Olympism goes far further than sport – Much Wenlock in rural Shropshire was the place to be. The 124th Olympian Games was reaching a climax in the elegant grounds of the brand new William Brookes School.

And an oak tree that's witnessed most of those games is no ordinary example. At its foot a modest plaque explains that it was planted by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, President of the [nacent] International Olympic Committee in 1890:

De Coubertin, a young French aristocrat, was travelling in the UK in search of inspiration for how to re-energise future generations who he thought lacked energy, fitness and education. He found the answer from an 82-year-old Victorian polymath in Much Wenlock. Dr William Penny Brookes had started his Olympian games 40 years earlier in 1850, so when de Coubertin visited in 1890 he found a flourishing annual tradition – a multi-sport tournament with ceremonies, parades and medals. He saw an arts festival treated with equal seriousness and educational projects to help local farm workers with the literacy skills which Brookes knew they would need.

Brookes and de Coubertin shared a common interest in the Games of ancient Greece and out of their friendship grew the modern Olympic movement. As the Wenlock Olympian Society will be pleased to show you, there's a letter a hundred yards or so away in their archives in the Wenlock Guildhall from de Coubertin which credits the inspiration for the 1894 revival of the Olympic Games in Athens as coming from Dr Brookes in Much Wenlock.

With only the odd break for a world war or two, the Wenlock Games have provided entertainment for de Coubertin's oak every year since.

And this is a special year. A new school building is nearing completion and with it sparkling new sports facilities are in use for the first time. In an atmosphere which is as much village fete as Olympic Games, it seems that much of Shropshire has come out to celebrate. In the Sports Hall there's the cream of young British Fencing talent, with a small group hoping to head off to Singapore in a few weeks for the first Youth Olympic Games. Next door on the bowling green the age range may be different but the competitive zeal no less rapier like.

Walking over towards the athletics I bump into Mike Grace, Wenlock's Mayor. He's proudly combining the mayoral chain of office, a well used running strip and the glow of achievement having just completed a tough triathlon.

Over on the brand new tartan running track I meet 14-year-old Josh. He's just won the 800 metres in an extremely competitive time. London 2012 and Seb Coe's achievements are clearly a greater motivation right now than next year’s GCSEs but Josh has his determined eyes set on the Rio Games in 2016. And don’t bet against it.

Then suddenly there's a new star on the track – and one that has cameras clicking, TV crews scurrying and just about everyone under 16 rushing forward. The London 2012 Olympic mascot, Wenlock, is making a visit to the spiritual home that gave its name. The calm, well ordered schedule of the games is temporarily suspended as Wenlock holds court.

There are fun runs for children of all ages and more mature generations seem equally emotional as they welcome the steely hero who tells Much Wenlock's story into their midst.

A gentle breeze causes de Coubertin's oak to flex just a little overhead – perhaps the subtle swagger of the senior citizen of mascots reminding us of who is boss...