I said it on the day and I will say it again:

THANK YOU

The response to RTTW 1 was beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of. At no time in the planning stage did I ever believe it would be supported so magnificently.

My initial wish was for at best 350 people to attend – with the help of a very supportive team of volunteers, it soon became apparent that the number would be surpassed at an early stage. The applications started rolling in and four weeks before the event the figure stood at 600. By the time Saturday 11th October arrived there was a total of 1104 people pre registered.

On the Saturday morning the first bikes rolled in to Tamworth Services at 0715 and the rumble of bikes continued right up to us leaving at 11.00. Another 820 people registered at Tamworth services.

We rolled out of the services escorted by 4 Police motorcyclists from Northamptonshire. The Staffordshire Police followed the procession, which took 1 ½ hours from the first bike leaving the services to the last bike arriving at the Arboretum. I have been informed by various sources that there were over 2,500 bikes on the ride and over 3000 people at the Arboretum to pay their respects. Some of you may have heard about two accidents on the ride and I am pleased to be able to tell you that there were no serious injuries.

The service and dignity shown by all was truly wonderful, with memories flooding back to many of those present.

We must not forget that the main aim of the day was, firstly to remember those that have died since WW2 and secondly to raise money for the Arboretum. The amount raised was a staggering £10,300.00. In December 2008 I was proud to present a cheque for this amount to the Arboretum photographs of which can be seen in the Photo section of the website.

I think that both the aims were achieved and surpassed quite considerably.

 Once again thank you all and see you on 10th October 2009 for Ride To The Wall 2!

Martin Dickinson