Riversniffers’ No 1 son is quick on his feet. In fact when he was younger, a family friend used to call him “Billy Whiz”, after the character in the Beano.

The boy has never trained properly and never had any coaching, but he’s always done well at school and cadet running. Then someone suggested he try his luck in the annual Cabbage Patch 10.

The Cabbage Patch is a pub near Twickenham station, run by Frank Dupree and his daughters Elaine and Jan. 

Frank was for a long time a governor of Clarendon School in Hampton. He is a great supporter of community causes and since 1982 he has helped to promote and organise what has now become a major fund raising event for the school.

As the Cabbage Patch 10 website says:

“The Cabbage Patch 10 mile race is one of the flattest and best 10 milers in the country (Richard Nerurkar set an all time British record of 46 mins 2 secs in 1993). Starting and finishing in Twickenham the course follows a loop, crossing the river in Kingston and Richmond and as always race HQ is the Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham.”

So on Sunday 19^th October the Riversniffer family accompanied our boy to Twickenham for a 10:00am start.

With approx 1500 entrants the start is quite hectic

Volunteer race marshalls help to organise the event and the police help to manage the traffic

Once the race has started, the runners go down Cross Deep, along to Hampton Wick, across Kingston Bridge, up the towpath on the other side, past Ham House, across Richmond Bridge and back to Twickenham to finish at York House.

The approach to the finish is along the pavement outside York House -  it is zoned off with barriers to keep the crowd from mixing with the runners. This chap had been cycling on the pavement and found himself funnelled across the finish line with the runners…

We managed to get a picture of the first three finishers…

1^st        Time: 0:48:28                         Scott Overall               Blackheath & Bromley Harriers

2^nd       Time: 0:49:23                         Moumin Geele             Newham & Essex Beagles

3^rd        Time: 0:53:13                         James Trapmore          Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers

The rest of the contestants arrived over the next hour or so, and long before the last stragglers finished the Riversniffers party were ready for a drink and something to eat. Where else should we go but the Cabbage Patch?

The Cabbage Patch

The Cabbage Patch is a vast pub. You might expect the service to be perfunctory, especially with the place being jammed solid after the race. But the service is cheerful, and the staff coped really well.

Our party duly got stuck into pints, and the beer was pronounced cracking. After a while we ordered some food – 3 x burgers and chips, 1 x salmon salad, one filo prawn starter and bangers and mash. Simple pub food, but when it arrived we were really astonished how good it was – great prawns, real homemade burgers, fantastic chips and the best bangers and mash that Riversniffer Senior had ever encountered. They might have been cooking for four people rather than the hundreds that were actually there.

The Cabbage Patch is big. But it is friendly and cheerful, the food is done with real care and it is really good value (see the menu on their website here).

In most operations the tone comes from the top, and with a community-minded landlord like Frank Dupree we think we can guess where the Cabbage Patch gets its positive feel from. Highly recommended.

P.S. How did the boy do?

Nonchalent youth. No training, no coaching, no running club. No race strategy either. He just ran round, and finished inside the top ten percent of all the finishers – and he wasn’t even out of breath at the end.

So now he’s joined a running club and with training and coaching we look forward to seeing how he does next year. Riversniffer Senior is looking forward to the bangers and mash already. Hope to see you there.

The Seesh Mahal has been one of Twickenham’s best curry houses since the 1980’s.

To quote from the toptable restaurant review site:

“This cosmopolitan Bangladeshi restaurant on Twickenham’s London Road is renowned for its sleek styling and fresh, authentic food. The dining room at the Sheesh Mahal – with caramel-coloured leather booths and natural timbers – is unashamedly chic, and the traditional menu has a modern twist. Ideal for dates, discreet working lunches and stylish celebrations”

Since February 2007 the owner Monaf has been helping a local Breakthrough group raise valuable funds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Jane Cox, a local supporter for Breakthrough organises the curry night on the last Wednesday of every month.

Jane and Monaf

The evening costs just £15 a head and includes pappadums and chutneys, assorted starters, various main courses and all the sundries. A glass of house wine/beer or soft drink is also included.

The menu is varied every month giving the opportunity to try different dishes. Some favourites have been the excellent Chicken Shamee kebab for starters, chicken minced with ground lentils, herbs and spices served with fresh green salad. Fish Bhuna is always popular as a main course . On a recent evening Monaf produced a lamb served straight from the cooking pot at the table, a chef’s special not normally on the menu

The service is smooth and the staff friendly. Additional drinks can be purchased, choosing from Indian beers or from an excellent wine list

A great evening, eating excellent authentic food at a great price in a stylish restaurant, all the while raising funds for Charity. Monaf just covers his costs, and the majority of the money goes to Breakthrough. The restaurant proudly displays a certificate presented when the first £1000 had been donated and they are on the way to the second.

It has to be better than running a marathon!

If readers of Riversniffers would like to more information and/or to attend on any particular last Wednesday in the month, please contact Breakthrough Breast Cancer organiser Jane on 07770 440390.

N.B. Regulars of the Breakthrough Charity Curry Night voted along with many other diners to help the Sheesh Mahal win Best Restaurant in Richmond Borough by the Guardian News Group.

Sheesh Mahal              19-21 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SX

                                    Tel: 020 8892 3303