A podcast celebrating all that's good about Brentwood, Essex
Having spoken last week on The Brentwood Buzz to the Parade Commander, Sarb Singh, of the Brentwood Remembrance Parade, today The Buzz has been to Brentwood School to join its Remembrance Day service, and speak to some of the staff, cadets and pupils as they remembered the fallen in a Drumhead Service in the School Chapel.
Brentwood School – https://www.brentwoodschool.co.uk/
If ever confirmation were needed that Brentwood is the place to do business, the annual Brentwood Business Awards organised by Brentwood Chamber of Commerce is the place to go.
More than two hundred Brentwood business people, local dignitaries, friends and family gathered this week for a glittering awards ceremony at which awards were given for high Street Impact, Community Engagement, Customer Service and Brentwood Business of the Year.
The Brentwood Buzz was there to chat to as many of these fabulous people as possible.
Photos by David Hale
Brentwood is fortunate to have a unending succession of keen amateur and professional singers, dancers, actors and musicians who perform regularly in musicals, plays and concerts in venues throughout the town.
This month Brentwood Musical Theatre Society – formerly Brentwood Operatic Society – is staging Rock of Ages at the Brentwood Theatre from 21st-25th October, bringing a hit of the 1980s to all those who love a ra-ra skirt and mobile phones the size of bricks.
The Brentwood Buzz joined the team for a rehearsal and to find out what makes the BMTS members give up their time and skills to put on a show.
http://www.brentwoodoperaticsociety.co.uk
http://www.brentwood-theatre.co.uk
Brentwood has its own Climate Action Group which is a growing collection of people wanting to talk about what needs to be done to tackle climate change.
But it’s not all climate. Great effort is being made to bring together a community of like-minded people to talk, debate, have picnics on Shenfield Common and, every so often, enjoy and evening of poetry and music.
Hey Joe Music, just off Crown Street, was the venue for the latest evening of words and music, and The Brentwood Buzz was there to meet Brentwood Climate Action chair, Kat Anderson, and singer/songwriter, Lucy Blu.
https://www.lucybluofficial.com/
There was a time, in the dim and distant past, when Brentwood had two McDonald’s restaurants – one on the High Street, and a drive-thru on the Mountnessing roundabout. Then they both closed and those with a taste for McNuggets or a Happy Meal had to travel to Chelmsford or even Romford for a full fat fix.
But this year, McDonald’s reopened on Brentwood High Street under the watchful eye of former McDonald’s Customer Care Assistant turned current franchisee, Joey Antwi-Kusi. The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet Joey, and to go behind the scenes in the shiny new Brentwood Maccy-D’s.
It’s not often The Brentwood Buzz ventures outside the Borough of Brentwood, but sometimes a great opportunity presents itself and cannot be missed.
This was the case when 1st Warley Cubs decided to spend a night camping at the Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome near Danbury with the aim of earning their Stage 1 and 2 Air Activities Badge – and to learn more about this historic airfield and all that happened here between 1915 and 1919.
Here’s a podcast about the aerodrome, camping with Cubs and how a weekend with friends is just the best thing.
https://www.stowmaries.org.uk/
Anyone who has walked past the Spread Eagle Pub on Queen’s Road in Brentwood will be familiar with the wonderful murals which regularly appear on the wall opposite the back entrance to St Thomas’s Churchyard. The artist behind these murals is artist Mario Corile (http://www.corile-design.co.uk/) , and a couple of weeks ago I happened to see him painting his latest artwork on the pub wall. It was too good an opportunity to mis so we had a chat about his work and what brings him to Brentwood on a regular basis.
The cheerful and ever-changing displays in the windows of Bennetts Funeral Directors in Brentwood reflect the company’s long-standing position and importance in the lives – and deaths – of many Brentwood inhabitants.
But if you think the funeral business involves little more than a long car and some men and women in black suits, you may wish to think again. There are qualifications and regulations, training and a good eye for a good hearse needed. Jane Bennet took over her family’s firm more than thirty years ago and had to learn it all from scratch so The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet her and find out some of the finer details of planning a funeral.
A special additional episode of The Brentwood Buzz today, celebrating young entrepreneurs in the town who have been taking part in Brentwood’s first ‘Make Your Market’ event in the Baytree Centre.
The Covid pandemic made many young people take a good look at their lives and passions, and the outcome seems to have been the enthusiastic decision to make, create and sell all kinds of products. Brentwood has never been a place lacking in entrepreneurial vigour, and Brentwood Borough Council have embraced this by bringing ‘Make Your Market’ to the town and encouraged those aged under 30 to take part.
Things started small today, but they will grow, and there’s no doubt The Brentwood Buzz will be talking to the likes of Charlotte (Minus Cloud Nine), Lucy (Amara London) and Lily (DottysCreatives) again in the future as their business careers develop.
S1Ep7 Music, coffee and a hefty dose of nostalgia is what you get at Hey Joe!, Brentwood’s only independent record shop. The shop in the Baytree Centre is run by Marc Sardinha, who decided Brentwood was the perfect place for the shop he wanted to open and he moved here three years ago.
This week on The Brentwood Buzz Marc explains why Brentwood offers everything he wants for home and work, and runs through what’s hot and what’s not in the music scene at the moment. And if Sam Ryder or Depeche Mode tune in to The Brentwood Buzz, Marc would be happy for them to come and do a turn at the shop.
If you’d like to know more about The Brentwood Buzz, or think someone you know would make a brilliant guest, please get in touch at TheBrentwoodBuzz@gmail.com or via The Brentwood Buzz on Facebook.
The Brentwood Buzz