VikingR asked the "Flash" Danny Ashcroft to get an insight into the story behind JT`s set-up
Mark..........
Melton Mowbray/rural Leicestershire and strongman are not usually not
words that most people would usually associate with each other (admittedly,
when the word Melton Mowbray is mentioned, the fat boy inside me thinks of
pies), however of the last few years they have gone hand in hand, thanks to one
man and his exceptional training facility. To the outsider, and regular “gym
monkey”, the Cauldron may look like an old, decrepit barn tucked away in the
corner of an old farm yard. But once you roll away the three massive tyres from
in front of the main entrance to the container and main training room, you
un-earth an overwhelming amount of strongman kit and equipment that would make
the “purists” mouth water, but more on that later. Firstly I will introduce the
founder and owner of this magnificent facility, which, as many of you who
regularly frequent strength websites, is Jason Talbot or JT to the masses. JT
is a former England’s strongest man u105kg and owner of www.atlasstones.co.uk (check it out,
it’s a must for strongman equipment) and it’s his generosity and passion for
the sport and strength sports in general which really make this place such an
appealing place to carry out events sessions. Now, much like the barn, he is
old and decrepit (just kidding), however his wisdom and advice is the main
reason why I continue to frequent this facility on a regular basis. I will
cover Jason later in the article, but now want the reader to understand how the
Cauldron came about.
After setting up the Container facility, Jason started to gain a bunch
of lads that would get together and train strongman events every weekend. After
the relative success in competition, of many of the guys that trained at the
Container, word spread of the fantastic facility and group that trained there.
The Container then became most strongmen in the Leicestershire areas regular
training place on a Saturday morning. The success of the facility continued and
this is in fact where I first met JT and the Container crew and started my
strongman journey. However in early 2011 the owner of the land in which the
container was stored decided to sell up, and JT had 2 containers full of
equipment and a group of lads desperate to continue to use the fantastic
equipment on offer. This is when JT made the conscious decision to move the
container into a barn on the farm next door and open a new facility, which we
know today as The Cauldron. The video below shows a couple of Cauldron regulars
just messing about in the farm yard in the rain in the very first session held
down at the facility.
Now, as written above, from the outside the Cauldron doesn’t
necessarily instantly scream “ training facility”. In fact if you didn’t know
why you were there and were just walking around the farm yard you would
probably completely miss the barn which I consider a strongman’s wet dream.
Hidden away between the three tyres we have to play with (one 300kg nice grippy
tyre, one 350/400kg beast known as Whinny , which only a few heroes have ever
flipped, and one with an unknown weight, which I have certainly never seen
flipped), is the entrance to a truly special strongman and strength related
facility. The first things you notice on entrance are the loading platforms,
straight in front of you, ranging from 65” all the way down to 45”, 7 in total.
Next to the platform are the quality atlas stones that we are lucky to have
thanks to JT. These range from the 60kg training stone, all the way through to
the 196kg beats that lay there un-touched. The quality and availability of
theses stones could make this facility a must for any strongman, however there
is so, so much more equipment that make this place what it is. You only have to
look at the right hand wall to see various kegs, sandbags and barrels available
for loading, as well as 15kg axes to practice raised holds, a yolk, 3 different
specs of loadable famers walk handles, as well as the dreaded suitcase farmers.
Add these to the finagles finger (or JT’s digit as it was recently renamed),
Conan’s wheel and various gym style dumbbells. If you then look in front of
you, just before the platforms you will find my favourite pieces of equipment
that are on offer and they are the set of inch replica dumbbells. These include
the 51kg, 57kg, 63kg, 69kg, 78kg and the beast that is the Millennium 105kg
dumbbell which I believe only 2 men have ever clean and pressed (unfortunately
one wasn’t me, but they are both connected to the VikingR Blog). Just when you
thought that was enough you look to the left and see three axel bars, 2 JT
style logs, a lat pull-down machine and a huge amount of plates that can be
loaded on to either of the 2 Texas power bars or the 3 Olympic lifting bars.
Then directly behind, completing all the Cauldron has to offer are a power rack
and bench, along with some weird concoctions that the crazy owner has invented,
including the doomsday dumbbell and the Loxel (A combination of an axel and a
log, its horrible). That’s what’s on offer; now let’s look at three of the
people who have achieved success in the strength world after frequenting this
great facility.
Jason Talbot “JT” – The creator of the Cauldron and former England’s
strongest man u105kg. Although he has taken his training down a notch now,
every session with JT is worth its weight in gold as the advice he can give and
the encouragement he can offer is unreal. He creates all round strength
athletes, not just static beasts, as he understands the new demands of
strongman and the direction that it has taken. The constant encouragement to do
1 more rep or 10 more meters is always greatly appreciated, as when it comes to
comp day, that is what you need.
Adam Bishop “Bish” – Well what can be said about “Bish” (apart from the
fact he has a massive head)? He is a fantastic strongman who has been able to
hone his skills using the fantastic equipment and listening to advice from JT.
In 2011 Adam was crowned 1st in Midlands’s strongest man u105kg, 2nd
at BSM u105kg and 1st in the UK’s strongest man U105kg. Since then
he has got fat and gone on to open competition and is yet to finish off the
podium in competition. Its not his achievements alone that make Bish great to
train with its his advice and encouragement with all things training that make
every session with him worthwhile. Then you get to see the silly feats of
strength and power that he is able to display and this makes you want to train
harder to be able to one day stand the chance of getting close to what he is
able to do. And he is only 23, knob head!
Jay Pateman “Ursus” – Well most readers will no all about Jay, but I
just want to shed some light on what its like to actually see this man in
action. On first meeting Jay I could not believe the size of the man. However
out of everyone he was the first to speak to me and talk about strength, I
understood then, this was his passion and knew with him I was in safe hands.
Over the years I have witnessed some insane feats of strength first hand at the
Cauldron; however one thing that eluded him for so long was the Millennium
Dumbbell. That’s why I was so happy for the man the day he was able to achieve
the clean and press, and cast away one of his demons. Like I have said its not
just watching Jay which makes him special its his friendliness and his helpful
nature which makes him part of the Cauldron atmosphere.
Below you can see a couple of typical sessions at the Cauldron
As you can see from, and read above this is a rather special place.
It’s a great combination of lovely kit, good camaraderie and banter that make
it a great place to train. I remember rocking up for my first session there
with Bish and JT jokingly (I think) asking why Bish had bought him a Dwarf. Its
this sort of thing which make training there enjoyable and which I why I think
the Cauldron will have a great future. If training was 100% serious all the
time it would become stale and boring and that is why I think the Cauldron
provides a unique environment with one of the best “coaches” around to make the
environment special. So what’s, or should I say who, is next? There is some
great talent coming through the ranks at the moment, including junior powerlifting
champion come u105 strongman John Hamson and u105 strongman Luke Skippon. Early
competition entries already this year for these two have provided very
encouraging results and under JT’s tutelage, this reporter predicts a bright
future for them both. As well as these two strongmen, there is a few more
creeping out of the woodwork in deepest darkest Leicestershire so keep your
eyes peeled for the next champion; I promise it won’t be long.
So, if your after a great atmosphere to train in, and don’t mind having
the piss taken from time to time, want to use the best equipment around and
receive some fantastic advice, get yourself to Leicestershire, I promise you
won’t be disappointed.
For VikingR, I’ve been Daniel Ashcroft, Thanks for stopping
by!
"MADE BY STRENGTH ATHLETES
FOR STRENGTH ATHLETES"
VikingrBlog
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