IS S U E 04 DECEMBER 2020

STOKE CHAPTER

Part of the worldwide Harley owners group

New Section Coming Soon…. In 2021, we would like to expand the quarterly news lette r and start to showcase our individual members, their bikes, their stories and their own HOG history. We would like to include articles and contributions from all our members on any subjects you feel relevant to the group or just your own ride out stories. We plan to run a section each quarter on a n individual member who would like to tell us about his or her current bike, past motorcycles and how they got into biking and in particular Harley Davidsons (of course!). This is entirely voluntary and no one has to submit anything if they don’t want, but it would be really nice if any members willing to share their story for publication so we can continue to improve the newsletter and grow. Anyone who wants to offer a story or contribution can contact myself either via WhatsApp / Facebook or email [email protected] for further details.

Dates For Your Diary Christmas Chapter Meeting Dates……. • 19th March 2020 Party • 23rd April 2020 • 21st May 2020 • 18th June 2020 In light of the ever changing situation surrounding the current • 30th July 2020 crisis, the Director and Committee have taken the decision to • 27th August 2020 postpone the Christmas Party until such a time that it is once • 24th September 2020 again deemed safe for us all to meet up. While the decision is • 22nd October 2020 saddening to all, the safety of the members must come first. th Currently the area remains in Tier 3 on the Governments • 19 November 2020 guidelines and until such a time as the restriction ease, we can’t not reschedule the event. However, as soon as we are able, rest assured that we will look to arranging a belated celebration! All monthly meetings will be held at 7:30pm POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE at Longton RUFC, Eastern Rise, Trentham Lakes, Stoke on Trent

The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at , near , Staffordshire. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the and civilian community.

In 2017, after undergoing a large scale regeneration project, the Arboretum's new award- winning Remembrance Centre was officially opened by the Duke of Cambridge on 23 March. Featuring three new exhibition galleries, larger restaurant and shop, separate coffee shop and a courtyard with garden, it provides visitors with facilities fitting that of a large scale visitor attraction.

In 2018 the National Memorial Arboretum was awarded Gold Large Visitor Attraction of the Year in VisitEngland's Awards for Excellence, as well as Coach Friendly Attraction of the Year in the British Coach Tourism Awards.

The idea for the Arboretum was conceived by Commander David Childs CBE in 1988, who wished to establish a national focus or 'centre' for Remembrance. Following a meeting with Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC, an appeal was launched in 1994 by the then Prime Minister, John Major. He believed that the Arboretum would form a living tribute to service men and women for future generations to reflect upon and enjoy. The future of the project became assured when three proposals were agreed. These were: for the site to be the location of the Armed Forces Memorial; for the Ministry of Defence to pay a significant grant-in-aid to allow for free entry and that The Royal British Legionwould accept the gift of the site as the focus for the Nation's year-round Remembrance.

The project began with no money, no land, no staff and no trees. The National Lottery, in the form of the Millennium Commission, granted some forty per cent of the funds needed and this was matched by thousands of donations, both large and small, from a wide variety of organisations both military and civilian, men and women, corporate and voluntary. Planting began on the reclaimed gravel workings, bordered by the Rivers Trent and Tame, gifted to the charity by Lafarge in 1997. The initial planting took place thanks to grants from the Forestry Commission and the National Forest, and since then has been shaped by a staff of thousands: a small paid group; a dedicated and active Friends of the National Memorial Arboretum organisation; and countless others who have either planted individual trees or helped create a memorial for their organisation.

The Arboretum was officially opened on 16 May 2001. It is a registered charity and is part of The Royal British Legion family of charities.

The Arboretum contains 30,000 trees, with more being added each year. There are more than 350 memorials for the armed forces, civilian organisations and voluntary bodies who have played a part in serving the country; and even HMS Amethyst's cat Simon.

At the heart of the Arboretum is the Armed Forces Memorial, which is a tribute to over 16,000 service personnel who have lost their lives in conflict or as a result of terrorism since the end of the Second World War. At 11 am on 11 November each year the sun shines through two slits in the outer and inner walls of the memorial, casting a shaft of light across a wreath in the centre. The Armed Forces Memorial was dedicated in October 2007 by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of the Queen. Other areas of the site include an RAF 'wing', Naval review and Army parade. Civilian areas include 'The Beat' which contains memorials and dedications to police forces from around the UK and commonwealth.

Within the Arboretum is the Millennium Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness where, at 11 am each day, an act of remembrance takes place. Following the two minutes silence, accompanied by the Last Post and Reveille, there is an introductory talk about the arboretum.

Daily Activities on site include guided walks, buggy tours, Land Train rides and free talks, as well as the Daily Act of Remembrance. Most of these activities are conducted by a team of over 260 volunteers, who collectively dedicate more than 52,000 hours of their time per year to the Arboretum. In 2010, the Volunteers of the National Memorial Arboretum were awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

Source: Wikipedia The Origins Of The Ride To The Wall. The first arranged ride was back in 2007, when the Nene Valley Harley Davidson Owners Group organised a small chapter ride out to the Arboretum for the Rememberence Day Event. This formulated the idea of a more formal event and so the origins of RTTW were set in place.

In 2008 the first official Ride To The Wall took place with 1,100 bikes in attendance. They left from Tamworth Service Station and made their way to the Arboretum.A volunteer committee was established with the aim of donating all monies to the NMA. A sum of £10,300.00 was donated this year

The second RTTW in 2009 had 2,939 bikes in attendance and £29,600.00 donated.

Fast forward to 2018 and RTTW charities donated £151,000.00 with a staggering £941,000.00 being donated in total since that very first ride. By 2019 the ride had attracted over 12,000 in attendance with riders travelling from all over the world to attend.

Unfortunately, the world was rocked by the ongoing pandemic in 2020, which saw the official RTTW being cancelled, however many groups made individual visits to the Arboretum to pay their respects and to honour the fallen.

On the 11th October two groups of 6 riders from Stoke Chapter, lead by Chapter Director; Dennis Rawlingson set out to NMA to pay our own respects on behalf of the chapter.

What Is Ladies Of Harley (LOH)? Ladies of Harley (LOH) is a program sponsored by the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) to support women motorcycle enthusiasts for both riders and passengers. It is not a separate organization within H.O.G., but was established to encourage women to become more active in H.O.G. and their local chapters. You don’t have to have your own bike to be a LOH member. LOH encourages women to participate in chapter events as well as functions 2020. specifically for the ladies. How do you become a member of Ladies of Harley? You must first be a member of the National H.O.G., then you can join your local chapter. You can be either a full or associate member. Ladies of Harley membership also allows you to participate in all LOH activities at various H.O.G. rallies and events. There is no additional fee to be a Ladies of Harley member.

Ladies of Harley ….. Although many of our ladies of Stoke Hog are pillion riders we are excited that one of our members now has her own trike and we are hoping that she will start to fly the rider flag. Stoke Hog is an all inclusive club and we welcome people of all ages and genders. But going forward we would as a Chapter like to welcome Ladies of Harley and with HOG UK and Ireland promote women in our chapter. Let’s ‘Sparkle’ forward and ‘Twinkle’ into the future.

Upcoming Events

• Sunday 22nd March 2020. Mother’s Day Ride – Own Ride Out Keep in touch via watsapp for anyone wanting to ride.

• Sunday 29th March 2020. Egg Run 9:00am Meet at Longton Rugby Club for a 9:00am start. Remember to bring an Easter Egg to donate! Please Note: this ride is not covered by H.O.G.

• Sunday 29th March 2020. Delamere Forest 10:00am Full details to be confirmed. Please refer to the Facebook page or watsapp for up dates on this.

th • Sunday 5 April 2020. Elsmere Port & Boat Museum 10:00am. Meet at Longton Rugby Club for a 10:00am start. This ride will be over to Elsmere Port and boat museum, and then over to Chester Harley Davidson.

th • Sunday 12 April 2020. Easter Sunday Ride – Own Ride Out Keep in touch via watsapp for anyone wanting to ride.

• SundayPOSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE 19th April 2020. Sandbach Transport Festival 9:00am Meet at Longton Rugby Club for a 9:00am start. Details of the festival can be found at: This Month’s Q&A Technologywww.sandbachtransportfestival.co.uk/2020 Tips -festival

Additional Ride Out dates and ride information will follow in future update’s

8

Let’s look forward to making 2021 the best yet! We want to fill this page with all our amazing events, ride outs

and rallies.

Send your photos to [email protected]

www.stokehogchapter.co.uk Don’t forget to regular check out our web page and Facebook for latest Chapter updates and information.

For those of us who like to follow social media sites, there is a new Official Harley Davidson UK and Ireland Facebook Group.

Join the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HDUKandIreland/?ref=share