The pioneer of this approach was Sir Ludwig Guttmann of the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England.

In 1948, while the Olympic Games were being held in London, he organized a sports competition for wheelchair athletes at Stoke Mandeville.

This was the origin of the Stoke Mandeville Games, which evolved into the modern Paralympic Games.

The first organized international competitions for athletes with a physical disability ( not deaf ) began in 1952, when the first international Stoke Mandeville Games were organized for World War II veterans.

The Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, incepted in 1948 in England, were the first Games for wheelchair athletes.

In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist working with World War II veterans with spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury in the UK, began using sport as part of the rehabilitation programmes of his patients.

After the Norman invasion of England in 1066 AD, some Norman French influences can be detected in place names, notably the simplification of ch to c in Cerne and-cester, and the addition of names of feudal lords as in Stoke Mandeville .).

He died on 7 March 2006 in the Florence Nightingale House, Stoke Mandeville, several miles from his home.

The 1960 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the first international Paralympic Games, following on from the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1948 and 1952.

They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation.

The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports ( IWAS ) World Games ( or IWAS World Games ) are a multi-sport competition for athletes with a disability, which under the former name of the International Stoke Mandeville Games were the forerunner of the Paralympic Games.

The competition has been formerly known as the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games, the Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, the Stoke Mandeville Games, the World Wheelchair Games, and in the 1960s and 1970s was often referred to as the Wheelchair Olympics.

The Games were originally held in 1948 by neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who organized a sporting competition involving World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital rehabilitation facility in Stoke Mandeville, England, taking place concurrently with the first post-war Summer Olympics in London.

In 1960, the Ninth Stoke Mandeville Games were held in Rome, Italy, following that year's Olympic Games.

The 2012 Paralympic mascot Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville.

Banks launched Mullan's book in Dublin, Derry and at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke in the Summer of 2006 and has described Mullan as ' my greatest fan '.

Stoke beat favourites Chelsea 2 – 1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 97, 852 spectators.

1997 – 98 saw Stoke move to its new ground, the Britannia Stadium, after 119 years at the Victoria Ground.

Stoke managed to turn the Britannia Stadium into a " fortress ", making it difficult for teams to pick up points there.

Stoke moved to the all-seater Britannia Stadium in 1997.

In 1997 Stoke left the Victoria Ground after 119 years, and moved to the modern 28, 384 all seater Britannia Stadium at a cost of £ 14. 7 million.

Stoke Mandeville Stadium was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom.

Stoke Mandeville Stadium was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, enhancing the hospital as a world centre for paraplegics and spinal injuries.

* Stoke Mandeville Stadium

However, despite remaining in the bottom three for the majority of the season, Wigan managed to retain their Premier League status on the last day of the season, defeating Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a goal from Hugo Rodallega.

Also during this period Stoke Mandeville Stadium was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, enhancing the hospital as a world centre for paraplegics and spinal injuries.

However the Club instead decided to build a new ground and so in 1997 Stoke left the Victoria Ground after 119 years for the new modern 28, 000 seater Britannia Stadium.

Carlisle were promoted out of the non-league conference at the first time of asking in 2005, winning the play-off final at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke.

The Britannia Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England and the home of Premier League club Stoke City Football Club.

Speaking after sealing his move to the Britannia Stadium, Crouch revealed that his former Tottenham Hotspur colleague Jonathan Woodgate was a major influence upon his decision to join Stoke.

He scored his first and second goals for Fulham against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on 28 December 2010 in a 2 – 0 victory.

Fuller in Stoke colours at the Britannia Stadium.

Stoke avoided relegation on the final day of the 2002 – 03 season with a 1 – 0 win over Reading at the Britannia Stadium, with Akinbiyi scoring the only goal of the game.

In 1997 Stoke moved to the Britannia Stadium but the team struggled all season and with relegation looming Stoke decided to cash in on their most promising prospect selling Griffin to Newcastle United for £ 1. 5million in January 1998.

Released by Bolton he spent the rest of the season back at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland, scoring once against Stoke, before joining Bristol City, where he scored once in the League Cup against Barnet.

Lawrence signed a new contract at Stoke in July 2009 keeping him at the Britannia Stadium until 2013.

Following his move to the Britannia Stadium, Upson revealed that playing in the UEFA Europa League was one of the main reasons he decided to join Stoke.

He scored his first goal for Stoke City in the second leg against Thun in a 4 – 1 victory at the Britannia Stadium.

Additionally National Rail's Lea Valley Lines also pass through Hackney, with stations at London Fields, Hackney Downs, Rectory Road, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, and Clapton.

Through its charitable arm The Waterways Trust, British Waterways maintained a museum of its history within the National Waterways Museum's three sites at Gloucester Docks, Stoke Bruerne and Ellesmere Port.

Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum, part of England's National Waterways Museum, is a canal museum located next to the Grand Union Canal just south of the Blisworth Tunnel, near the village of Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire.

Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service hospital to the south of the town centre.

Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service hospital within Aylesbury Urban Area to the south of the town of Aylesbury, near the village of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire.

The estate is half a mile from the famous Stoke Mandeville Hospital, with the Jimmy Saville Spinal Injuries National Centre at its hub.

In September 1943 the British government asked Dr Guttmann to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

The National Waterways Museum holds the inland waterways collection at three museum sites in England: Gloucester, Ellesmere Port, and Stoke Bruerne.

The National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and the Canal Museum ( Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum ), Stoke Bruerne, Towcester, Northamptonshire remain linked as part of the National Waterways Museum.

Stoke Orchard was formerly home to the Coal Research Establishment of the National Coal Board, which moved onto the site of a Ministry for Aircraft Production shadow factory run by the Gloster Aircraft Company adjacent to RAF Stoke Orchard.