RTTW History

Nene Valley Harley Davidson Owners Group members organise a small ride to the National Memorial Arboretum's Remembrance Day event and formulate ideas for a stand-alone ride.

After much planning the first Ride To The Wall took place from Tamworth Service Station to the NMA with an overwhelming 1,100 motorcycles of all types attending. Participants paid a fee and in return received a commemorative pin and year bar.

A committee of volunteers was formed and the core values quickly established along with the principles of donating all monies raised to the NMA.

A cheque for £10,300 is presented to Charles Bagot Jewitt, chief executive of the NMA.

On-line pre-registration for the event was launched along with a range of merchandise. The start point was changed to Drayton Manor Park in order to accommodate the anticipated increase on numbers of those attending.

The second Ride To The Wall took place with some 2,939 motorcycles of all types pre-registered resulting on a cheque for £29,600 being presented to Charles Bagot Jewitt, chief executive of the NMA.

The first Saturday of October was set as the date of Ride To The Wall for this and future years. The event followed the same format as 2009 departing from Drayton Manor Park with 3,300 motorcycles attending.

A cheque for £52,750 was accepted by HRH Duke of Kent on behalf of the NMA during his visit there.

Ride To The Wall becomes a registered charity.

For the fourth Ride To The Wall a number of new start points were introduced in order to relieve pressure on the numbers at Drayton Manor Park. 3,610 motorcycles participate in this successful step forward in RTTW's development.

The presentation of the cheque for £55,250, accepted by Pte. Johnson Beharry VC on behalf of the NMA, takes place as part of their celebration of Armed Forces Day.

5th anniversary Ride To The Wall takes place with 4,400 motorcycles registered.

Ride To The Wall are awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (the MBE for voluntary groups) in the Queen's Birthday honours list.

Read more about the award here.

The presentation of the cheque for £70,389, accepted by Cpl. Johnson Beharry VC on behalf of the NMA, takes place as part of the their celebration of Armed Forces Day.

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service presented to two Ride To The Wall volunteers by the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire at a ceremony at the NMA.

The sixth Ride To The Wall takes place with 5,200 motorcycles participating and an estimated 20,000 people attending the event itself. Ride To The Wall becomes the NMA's biggest single event and their largest financial contributor.

A cheque for £82,750 is accepted on behalf of the NMA by Mrs. Pearl Thrumble and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire.

The sixth Ride To The Wall takes place with an estimated 4,300 motorcycles participating and an estimated 20,000 people attending the event itself. This was lower than in previous years but the weather was particularly inclement. Ride To The Wall remains the NMA's biggest single event and their largest financial contributor.

A cheque for £90,500 is accepted on behalf of the NMA by Colin Kemp, a trustee of the NMA, and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire. This brought the total donated since 2008 to a remarkable £408,500.00.

The seventh Ride To The Wall takes place with 7,100 motorcycles participating and an estimated 20,000 people attending the event itself.

Ride To The Wall featured on a special BBC1 Songs of Praise Remembrance programme.

A cheque for £107,500 is presented by our two patrons, Major General Lamont Kirkland (rtd) and Air Commodore Simon Richardson (rtd), and Wilf Taylor, our oldest 'waller'. The cheque is accepted on behalf of the NMA by Colin Kemp, a trustee of the NMA. This brought the total donated since 2008 to a remarkable £512,000.

The ninth Ride To The Wall takes place and, despite it being the wettest year yet, some 6,700 bikes participated.

On 17th December, many 'Wallers' attended a Christmas lunch together at the NMA. This was then followed by the annual NMA Carol concert.

End of sponsored walk. Martin ended his 5 day sponsored walk from St Georges Barracks, London to the NMA.

Armed Forces Day. A cheque for £121,200 was presented by the Patrons to Sarah Montgomery on the steps of the AFM. This brings the total donated, since 2008, to a staggering £633,200.

The tenth Ride To The Wall takes place. Over 6500 bikes participated and the weather was much kinder.

Many 'Wallers' again attend a Christmas lunch at the NMA. Before the annual Carol Concert starts Martin presents the NMA with a cheque for £6,412.97, being the amount raised from his sponsored walk earlier in the year.

Armed Forces Day. Once again a cheque was presented to the NMA on behalf of Ride to the Wall. Monies raised from RTTW 2017 allowed us to present a cheque for £150,000 bringing the total raised to date to just short of £790,000.

The 11th year of the ride saw over 5000 bikes in attendance. Numbers were down from the previous year due to inclement weather, but this did not deter an amazing turn out and the ongoing support for Ride to the Wall.

The annual RTTW Christmas lunch was attended by a record number, 127 including 3 Chelsea pensioners, and was held in the new 'ASPECTS' building at the NMA.

Armed Forces Day once again saw Ride to the Wall presenting another record cheque to the NMA. The money raised during RTTW 2018 totalled £151,000, with the cheque being presented to Lt Col David Whimpenny (Chairman of the board of trustees at the NMA). The total amount raised since 2008 now stands at £941,000.

2019 was the most demanding year to date with extensive flooding on site until the Thursday before the event. RTTW 2019 still went ahead with over 12,000 people in attendance from as far afield as Australia.

The 3rd annual RTTW Christmas lunch was once again well supported by 'WALLERS' with 148 in attendance. This year the address was given by Pat McGurk, a Chelsea pensioner, and there was also singing by Gari Glaysher.

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic Armed Forces Day didn't take place so a cheque for £159,000 was handed over virtually to Philippa Rawlinson, the CEO of the NMA. This cheque took the total raised to date to £1.1M.

With restrictions still in place, RTTW didn't take place in its normal format. Instead there were two virtual presentations. The first being 6 minutes long and telling 5 WALLER'S stories about the names they had adopted from the walls of the AFM. The second was a 45 minute virtual service. In the week after RTTW the 2 presentations received 23,000 and 55,000 views respectively.

The pandemic once again affected Armed Forces Day. The presentation was attended by restricted numbers and organised by the Ministry of Defence. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal was in attendance and Lt General Jaques presented a cheque for £115,000 taking the total raised to over £1.2m.

The 14th year of RTTW took place with reduced numbers due to Covid and fuel shortages. Over 6000 people attended a reduced service however they were able to remember together.

The 4th annual Xmas lunch and Carol service was attended by 70 people. The day was changed to a Sunday which saw reduced numbers due to work commitments.

Once again there were a number of Wallers in attendance to see how much had been raised during the previous year and on the day at RTTW 2021. Once more all the hard work and generosity paid off with a donation presented to the National Memorial Arboretum of £135,000 bringing the total raised to date to £1.35m. Along with the cheque RTTW also presented 2 mobility scooters to be used year round.

With people wanting to get back to 'normal' the attendance was an increase on the previous year with almost 10,000 attending on a DRY day to pay their respects and remember. With a clement day it also allowed for 2 flypasts, something that had been missed in previous years. Firstly there was a Spitfire then a Lancaster, one of only 2 still flying.

The 5th annual Xmas lunch saw over 80 attend all in the festive spirit. Gari Glaysher performed 3 songs which were greatly appreciated and an auction raised over £400 for RTTW. Next year we will be returning to a Saturday after a number of requests for this.

Armed Forces Day was once again the opportunity to present the cheque from the 2022 event and we were proud to present a cheque for £150,000 bring the total raised to date to £1.5 million. As well as the cheque RTTW also presented Bunty, a buggy to enable those with disabilities to be transported up to the AFM.

The first Saturday in October saw clear skies and no rain with an attendance of 7000 bikes and in excess of 12,000 people for the annual Service of Remembrance. A Spitfire flypast added to the emotions of the day as well as a number of musical performances.

Attendance at this year's 6th Xmas lunch was only 60 people but everyone entered into the festive spirit and had an enjoyable and memorable afternoon at the NMA