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/
Brentwood’s annual Remembrance Sunday Parade takes place on Sunday 9th November 2025, with representatives from Brentwood Borough Council, Essex Police, Essex Fire and Rescue, Royal Mail, Armed Forces, cadet groups, Scouts and Girl Guides marching through the town led by the Brentwood Imperial Youth Band.
The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet the Parade Commander, Sarb Singh, to hear more about the parade. We’ve also caught up with an old friend of the podcast, Mario Corile, whose latest mural on the side of the Spread Eagle pub marks the 80th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and popped in to the pub to find out from new landlady, Remi Bassett, why the mural is such a big part of the pub’s presence in the town.
The Brentwood Buzz is a podcast celebrating all that’s good about the people and places of Brentwood, Essex. Please like, comment and share using this website, Facebook or Spotify.
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/
Spending time with a dog is many people’s idea of the best time ever. The absolute adoration and love a dog can give is so special, and the charity Essex Therapy Dogs recognises this.
They have 288 dogs across Essex who, with their owners and entirely voluntarily, spend time in schools, care homes, hospitals, airports and workplaces, just being dogs. And this means people who are sad, stressed, anxious or ill get the chance to stroke, play with and enjoy all a dog can offer.
The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet Maple and Jessie, two of the Essex Therapy Dogs for this week’s podcast.
If you want to find out more about Essex Therapy Dogs you can contact them via their website: https://essextherapydogs.co.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.
The Brentwood Buzz