On Remembrance Day in November 2007 Martin Dickinson, then Director of Nene Valley Harley Owners Group, rode to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire with a few fellow Harley owners, to attend a service at the Armed Forces Memorial. This memorial, which was dedicated in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen on 12 October 2007, consists of a large 6 metre high earth mound at the top of which stands a 43 metre diameter stone structure with two curved walls and two straight walls, constructed of 200,000 bricks faced with Portland stone panels. The panels contain the names of the men and women of our Armed and Merchant Services who have lost their lives in conflict as a result of terrorist action or on training exercises since the end of the Second World War. Unlike the World War memorials in towns and villages across the nations, there is nowhere else that records the names of those who have been killed on duty since 1945.

Martin found the whole thing quite a moving experience and decided to do something for all HOG members throughout the country, so they too could experience it and in the process raise funds for the upkeep of this memorial. The walls of the memorial inspired him to organise an event along similar lines to Rolling Thunder, where motorcyclists from all over the United States of America join an annual organised ride to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC.

Later that month Martin outlined his idea at the Harley Owners Group Directors meeting and received widespread support. He returned to his own group and told them of his plans and once again they overwhelmingly gave him their support. Although the original intention was for all the other Harley Owners Groups to be involved in the organisation of this event, inevitably it was Nene Valley members who made up the majority of the organising team.

The rationale was for everyone to ride in an organised group to the National Memorial Arboretum where they would attend a service of remembrance at the foot of the Armed Forces Memorial for ‘those who can no longer ride by our side'. Participants would pay a registration fee and in return receive a commemorative pin and year bar. The money raised, once all costs had been covered, would be donated to the NMA. Tamworth Services on the M42 and A5 was chosen as the starting point for the ride because it was an easily accessible central location where people from all over the country could meet up.

To keep costs to a minimum tickets and application forms were produced on the home computers of volunteers on the organising team. Registration opened at the end of March 2008 and Martin was hoping for between 200 and 300 attendees. Initially only HOG members were to take part, but news of the event spread, mostly by word of mouth, throughout the biking community. Harley owners who were not HOG members and current and ex service personnel who rode other makes of motorcycles heard about it and also asked if they could participate, so it was opened up to all motorcyclists. As a result of including all makes of motorcycles and their respective clubs/groups, by the day before the event just over 1100 people had registered to participate and nearly half as many again registered on the day.

On Saturday 11th October 2008 the very first Ride to the Wall took place to raise funds for the upkeep of National Memorial Arboretum and on 12th December 2008 Martin presented the National Memorial Arboretum with a cheque for £10,300.

Due to the widespread interest from the whole of the motorcycling community, it was decided that a stand alone organisation should be set up to run the event free from the constraints of affiliation to any specific governing body. Therefore at the end of October 2008, Ride to the Wall was put on a more formal basis with its own bank account and totally independent Executive Committee. It was also decided to have on line registration to cope with the increased numbers and the website RTTW.org was set up to facilitate this.

The only official merchandise available in 2008 was a single black and white patch with the letters RTTW on it. For 2009 the range was expanded to include a variety of patches and year a specific exclusive limited edition T-shirt. The new website contained a section displaying this merchandise with PayPal and credit card facilities for on line purchasing.

Following the huge success of the first Ride to the Wall it was apparent that a new starting assembly point would be needed in subsequent years as there was not enough space at Tamworth Services for all the bikes. After months of trying to find a suitable venue, Drayton Manor Theme Park near Tamworth was chosen, due to its central location, much larger capacity and the generous support offered by the owners. Overnight camping the night before was now possible as Drayton Manor had facilities for this and quite a few people took up this option.

The introduction of the online registration proved extremely popular with 250 applying in the first week alone. By the middle of September we had already passed the total number of registrations for 2008. In all 2938 people registered on line, 353 by post and a further 740 registered on the day, making a grand total of 4031 registrations for 2009. This together with the proceeds from the sale of merchandise enabled us to make a donation of £29,600 to the National Memorial Arboretum.

At the end of August we received an email from a serving soldier saying he was unable to attend in 2008 due to overseas duties but hoped to attend in 2009. He also asked if it would be appropriate for him to wear his combat uniform. That serving soldier was Major General Lamont Kirkland CBE ,Commander of the 4th Infantry Division, who became our patron in December 2009.

To be continued