Early life
Ron's parents, Walter and Flo, on their diamond wedding anniversary. |
Ron as a young man. | Ron's brother Derek. |
Ron was born on the 11th of March, 1930, at home in Hatfield Grove in Douglas, Isle of Man, the son of Walter and Florence also from the Isle, middle child of three boys, Herbert being the older brother and Derek the younger. The family moved to Castle Street in Douglas where his mother ran a boarding house which in those days enjoyed a booming tourist season in the summer months. During the summer Ron would be sent to a farm to live where he would spend time with his Grandfather ferreting rabbits in the hills around the farm. His first job, at 16 years old, was that of a Government Messenger, a job which was conducted on bicycle, and hence Ron's passion for cycling began to evolve.
At 18 he did his National Service as a mechanic in the Royal Air Force (RAF), and was assigned to post-war Germany to service the Lancaster Bombers. After two years with the RAF he returned to the Island and resumed work for the Isle of Man Government. Upon his return he started to focus on competitive cycling, and began finding success in many local events.
Cycling
From 1950 through 1962 Ron won 48 open road races, and finished in the top six 17 times out of 25 events in which he competed off the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom. In the 1956 Manx International, a race that was won by world road race champion Ercole Baldini, Ron finished 10th overall.
By 1956 Ron's success in cycling enabled him to enter the eight-day, 1000 mile Tour of Britain (Daily-Express Tour). In the opening 222 km that finished in Manchester he took 6th place. He won the 196 km stage 4 that finished in Aberystwyth (Dyfed), finishing in 6h 37m and just 1s ahead of the eventual winner of the tour, Richard McNeil. Ron also finished 3rd in the 212 km stage 6 that finished in Weston-super-Mare (North Somerset). Overall Ron finished the tour in 3rd place, just 6m 39s behind McNeil.
Cycling magazine contributor, Michael Daniell described Ron's stage win on 23 August 1956:
"On the following stage of 122 miles, from Rhyl to Aberystwyth, further upheavals were witnessed early in the proceedings, Ward punctured early on, got back with a chasing group, only to fall on descending Penmachno (30 miles) and receive concussion to finish eventually at Aberystwyth in 34th position, 12 minutes down on stage-winner Manxman Ron Killey, riding for the Merseyside team. Rae, Manchester's Mather, and, of course, Ward, all missed the vital break. And McNeil jumped into race leadership with a clear working margin of five minutes, after figuring prominently in the break that proved the key point of the whole race. Ryan, Mather, Taylor, P. Ellison (Yorks and Eastern Counties) and F. Clements were away before ancient Harlech (53 miles) and reached Bar-mouth two min. up on the main bunch. There the race stopped for half an hour. Competitors were, after resting for that prescribed time, dispatched at the exact intervals at which they had arrived. Regrouping occurred after the resumption, with, notably, T. Bristow (S. Eastern Counties), Army man Doug Collins, Killey and McNeil joining the five leaders, Collins and Ryan (who had been brought back after--a solo break) were dropped almost simultaneously on a sharp rise shortly before the finish. Bristow was the next to go with only yards left, and McNeil was content to see Killey take the stage by 1 sec., with Bristow third. Rae, Mather and a dismal-looking Ward all missed that most vital break, and the yellow jersey passed to McNeil, by far the most consistent rider in the race with, at that time, two second places, a fourth and an eighth. He enjoyed a clear 5-minute lead over Rae, by his efforts on the stage. Ward, seriously concussed, was unable to start the following day."
Additional achievments for Ron included winning the title of best all-rounder in the time trials for Isle of Man cyclists in 1956, and winning the 1962 Birkenhead North End C.C. 75-mile road race in Wales which included a top-class field. Ron also finished fourth in the 300 mile Tour of the North in Norther Ireland in 1962.