Keith Mott writes...

The B.I.C.C. Winners - Part 6

RON & IRENE ELLIOTT

OF CHADWELL HEATH

A name that keeps cropping up every season in the long distance British International Championship Club results, is that of Ron and Irene Elliott of Chadwell Heath , in Essex. In the 2005 season their brilliant blue cock, ‘Gloved Up Perperon’, recorded 2nd. open B.I.C.C. Perpignan, 18th. open B.I.C.C. Pau and kept up the wonderful tradition of the Elliott loft in the B.I.C.C., recording premier positions every year. This game cock also recorded 23rd. open B.I.C.C. Perpignan in the 2004 season. The Essex partnership are very interested in long distance International racing with the B.I.C.C. and the 2004 season saw them win the Two Bird Average, and 6th, 11th, 16th. and 23rd. open B.I.C.C. Perpignan (626 miles).

I visited the Chadwell Heath with my good friend, Ron Wasey in 2003, just after Ron and Irene had won 1st. and 2nd. open B.I.C.C. Perpignan. I first became aware of their wonderful long distance performances, when Ron Wasey, who witnessed this great win from Perpignan, described what had happened in the Elliott’s garden. He apparently knocked on Ron Elliott’s front door and heard a voice full of pain enquiring who was there. After several minute Ron finally opened the door looking like death warmed up and obviously in great pain with a bad leg. They went into the kitchen where it was possible to see the lofts. Ron Elliott insisted on marking a cup of tea, although he looked terrible and just when he was about to pour it, Ron Wasey said, ‘What’s that pigeon on your loft?’ Ron was transformed in a moment from someone who looked like he was about to meet his maker to a person running in the London Marathon, racing down the garden shouting, ‘It’s my Perpignan hen, get the clock’. Marvellous what success in pigeon racing can do. Of course,  Ron Elliott clocked his Champion ‘Lobar Rose’, to win 1st. open B.I.C.C. Perpignan!

I decided after Ronnie Wasey’s description of this event, I had to do a loft report on this partnership. On the day of the visit, what a journey we had, heavy traffic all the way. The last leg was all stop and start, but the loft visit was well worth the effort. Ron and Irene Elliott are both cockneys, for Ron was born in Limehouse, Stepney and Irene in Bow. Although I noticed the Elliott’s in some B.I.C.C. results I wasn’t prepared to find a wealth of scintillating results behind this partnership who have topped the mighty London North Road Combine from Thurso, and again from Morpeth with young birds. At that time the L.N.R.C. was on a par with the very best organizations in the Britain. The Thurso Combine winner was named, ‘Seconds Out’, and won an R.P.R.A. award and a Combine Gold Medal for thus performance. Ron’s Combine result from Thurso (490 miles) was 1st, 10th. and 18th. section, 1st, 22nd. and 38th. open. A brilliant performance! A brother to the Combine winner, named ‘Gloved Up’ was another great racer, winning nine races for the Essex loft. In the Morpeth Combine result the partners were 1st. and 4th. open and the winner, ‘Sylvron Rose’, also won a Gold Medal. They have to many Combine positions to list in this article, but suffice to say, it was outstanding pigeon flying. In all during their racing career the Elliott’s have won nearly 570 firsts in racing, a record to be proud of!

They stopped racing north road in 1992 and turned south, with success coming more or less straight away. Flying with the Havering South Road they picked up a points trophy for Pau. The following year Jack Harris, Jim Peters and some others formed the Thames North & Eastern Counties Club in which Ron and Irene did very well. They have won 1st. section, 24th. open and 3rd. section, 47th. open Pau with the London & South East Classic Club. A hen called was the first bird in to Essex taking 11th. section E, 51st. open N.F.C. Pau. The loft has also won 193rd. open N.F.C. Pau (5,976 birds), 116th, 211th. open N.F.C. St. Malo (10,034 birds).

Ron was only nine years old when the pigeon bug bit him! His dad kept chickens and Ron had to make up the chicken feed while his dad was at work, by boiling potato peelings, mashing them up and then mixing in a Karswood mixture for extra goodness. For this chore his dad gave him 2s 6d pocket money and with it he went to the local pet shop to purchase his first pigeon. He is now aware it was a feral pigeon, but nevertheless, back he went the following week to buy a second streeter. His initial breeding experience with these birds alarmed him. He thought the parents were killing their squabs, but their were just regurgitating their food. He progressed from this to buying a pair of eggs from a fancier named, Pat Bone, and the babies both turned out to be white. He joined the Fanshaw F.C. when he was ten years old and on his first race from Chatteris (64 miles), he remembers vividly, running with the thimble to a fancier called, George Lawrence. He won his first race at 12 years old and the first fanciers to really take his eye were Albert and Alfie Doughty, who were outstanding racing men. The pigeons they flew were Busschaerts, Van Hee and Ko Nipius. The young Ron obtained pigeons from the Doughty partners and some Guerney / Barkers from C.H. Birch of Southport, Ko Nipius from Bob McDonald and Bricouxs from Mr. & Mrs. Jones of Fleet. He has never looked back since!

Ron and Irene’s present lofts are handmade by Ron, ‘L’ shaped, with 36ft. frontage, with a small loft set away from the main lofts for their stock birds. I n loft construction, Ron, believes strongly in dryness and ventilation, and has three canopies built into the roof for increased air flow. He doesn’t think you can beat scraping and cleaning at least once a day, but due to health problems in recent years he’s had to introduce a deep litter system. Always a natural flyer, again, because of his health in recent years, Ron operates a form of roundabout system. He would not go full widowhood as he thinks too much of his hens. Training comprises of long tosses rather than short and he believes in letting birds mature before putting them to the ultimate test, saying, he doesn’t race yearlings often but has an intensive training programme for two year olds is enforced, starting with the short races with the B.I.C.C. and E.E.C.C. Since turning south road he rarely races young birds, just sending them on long training tosses. He says he gets a buzz with all the races, but his Perpignan races certainly gives him a lift in spirits!

He believes in latebreds, practises line breeding and outcrossing and likes to see a strong eye, but doesn’t follow the eyesign method. He uses a Gem mixture all the year round introducing extra linseed during the moult. Some tonics are used but his favourite is a special one made by Irene. He uses this all the year round and calls it ‘Irene’s Tonic’. The recipe is cabbage water, with garlic and onions brought to the boil, strained and two spoonfuls of mixed herbs stirred in to the brew. His advice to would be newcomers is, if you aren’t prepared to work with the pigeons 365 days a year, then don’t bother to start up in the sport.

While on this visit I noticed a photograph of a young Ron posing in a boxing outfit. He told me he’d been a professional boxer and showed me lots of newspaper clippings which made very interesting reading. One of them described him as a ‘tiny tearaway’, who thrilled millions of T.V. watchers, earning praise from Johnny Caldwell, whose comment was ‘Elliott is a game little fighter’. Another extract said Ron Elliott was a ‘menacing little Marciano’. I think this tenacious, determined attitude is shown by the way he goes about pigeon racing. Like so many other great pigeon men, he’s fanatical in his approach. Ron started amateur boxing while at school at about ten years of age and continued until he turned professional at 21. In his amateur days he fought for the R.A.F. while doing his National Service. In all he had about 150 bouts as an amateur and approximately 50 contests as a professional. He once fought for the Southern area title.

Ron has had many great pigeons pass through his hands since he’s been in the sport. The biggest mistake he ever made in racing was losing his cool with his great racer and producer, ‘Sylvron Knight’, who persistently claimed other nest boxes, smashing eggs and damaging youngsters, and getting rid of him. He was the sire of ‘Seconds Out’, the Thurso Combine winner and many other good winners. Although after a time, Ron, bitterly regretted it, he felt the time had come for him to go. Ron’s B.I.C.C. winner, Champion ‘Lobar Rose’, is quality through and though in the hand, being a medium sized hen and well balanced. Ronnie Wasey who witnessed her arrival from Perpignan, said, she didn’t look as if she had flown 20 miles, let alone 626 miles. She scored out of Pau with the N.F.C. in 2001 and flew Palamos twice, one of them in 2003, the year she won Perpignan. She was the only pigeon on the winning day in to England from this race and finished 348th. International Hens.

I must thank Ron and Irene for a great day out. Irene is a marvellous lady, as she is a great help in the management of the pigeons. I must also thank Ronnie Wasey for being my navigator and taking all the photographs during the loft visit There you have it, Ron and Irene Elliott of Chadwell Heath, 1st. open B.I.C.C. Perpignan 2003! I can be contacted on Telephone: 01372 463480. See yer!