A podcast celebrating all that's good about Brentwood, Essex
The weekend of 4th July 2026 is Independence Day for the USA, but here in Brentwood it’s Independents’ Day, when our local independent shops and businesses encourage us to find them and use them!
The Brentwood Buzz has featured many of these independent businesses on the podcast in the last four years – have a listen to some of them by clicking on the Spotify links below.
The latest guest on Brentwood’s celebratory podcast, The Brentwood Buzz, is Andy Thorn. Currently the General Secretary of the Essex Police Federation, Andy has worked for Essex Police and the Met Police, he’s managed the Savoy Theatre in Monmouth, training for the ministry and offered pastoral care to the National Citizen Service when it was running in Suffolk.
We managed to pin him down to ask how many careers one man needs, and how his current work makes sure the police officers who keep us safe in Essex are protected and supported when the demands of 21st century policing hit home.
Brentwood born and bred founder of Sophisticated Entertainment, Sophia-Marie Hornsey is this week’s guest on The Brentwood Buzz, Brentwood’s celebratory podcast.
Sophia-Marie appeared on the podcast last Christmas when she brought a panto version of Beauty and The Beast to The Brentwood Centre. Now she’s back having a chat about how she moved from Pilgrims Hatch Primary School to performing in the West End and on cruise ships to bringing panto to Brentwood.
The latest The Brentwood Buzz is another in our series of podcasts celebrating businesses which are part of Brentwood Connected, the innovative three-High-Street Business Improvement District for Brentwood, Shenfield and Ingatestone.
Nish Patel owns the Shenfield Wine Company, which is the go-to place in Shenfield to pick up a decent bottle of wine, a good whisky and a fine cigar.
The Brentwood Buzz joined him in his Cigar Lounge to talk screw tops, business and Cuban cigars.
https://www.brentwoodconnected.co.uk
In recent The Brentwood Buzz podcasts we have found there is a talented pool of community theatre players who circle effortlessly around the various groups with a lead role here, a bit part there and occasionally even some directing thrown in.
One of those players is Lindsay Hollingsworth, writer of pantos for The College Players, in which she also acts and sometimes directs, when she’s not teaching youngsters to play percussion instruments, or encouraging them to join Brentwood’s Orchestras for Young Musicians.
This summer Lindsay is bringing her directing skills to Romford Shakespeare Theatre for its summer show, The Comedy of Errors, which will be performed outside in Hornchurch.
The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet Lindsay to find out why the arts are so important to her.
The dictionary definition of an Essex Girl has been, for some time, a young woman from Essex who is unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic.
Despite a campaign in recent years to remove this definition, it still sticks, even though you only have to listen to the women who’ve appeared on The Brentwood Buzz in the last three years to find a bunch of intelligent, feisty women who have no qualms about saying what they want, and getting work done.
Now Blatella Films is producing a documentary – Witchcraft & Stilettos: Redefining The Essex Girl Narrative – for upcoming film festivals, and has been in Brentwood for interviews with some of those Essex Girls and women. The Brentwood Buzz was there to speak to director Natalie Scarsbrook.
Thanks to Natalie Scarsbrook at Blatella Films (https://blatella.co.uk/) for the interview and Dr Natasha Radford at the Chicken and Frog Bookshop in Brentwood for the use of the shop for recording.
Keeping fit, healthy and in shape from childhood to old age is something we all know we should do , even if we ignore good advice at times.
New Zealand born Doctor of Chiropractic, Grayson Nolan, runs The Chiropractic Centre in Brentwood, and Billericay. His passion for the benefits of chiropractic is evident – and probably if we listened to him more, some of us would ache less!
The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet Grayson in his premises in Pilgrims Hatch.
Brentwood Musical Theatre Society is no stranger to The Brentwood Buzz, featuring in S3Ep19 and S1Ep17 as well as a decent mention in the recent chat with actor Stephen Moyer.
BTMS’s next show is Evita at the Brentwood Theatre from 19th to 23rd May 2026, so we’ve been back to talk to some of the Society’s long standing members and find out why being part of this fabulous community theatre group is a real family affair.
Graphic designer and Brentwood mum, Jill Busby, of Hive Art Studios is bringing her artistic skills to the King George’s Playing Fields Pavilion on 14th May with a “Sip and Paint” evening.
Wineglasses are some of the smaller items Jill paints, as The Brentwood Buzz discovered when visiting Jill’s studio.
Brentwood’s independent record shop, Hey Joe Music, hosted the Essex leg of comedian Alastair Clark’s national tour in which he brings comedy to record shops.
Alastair worked in a record shop for ten years before giving up the glitz, glamour and admin duties of trading vinyl for the glitz, glamour and admin duties of life as a stand-up comedian.
The Brentwood Buzz caught up with him at the end of his gig in Hey Joe’s to talk about the tour, his forthcoming Edinburgh show, and collecting comedy records.
https://www.instagram.com/alastairclarkcomedy/
8th May – Rough Trade, Nottingham, 13th May – The Record Cafe, Bradford, 16th May – Vinyl Tap, Huddersfield, 22nd May – Rough Trade, Bristol, 30th May – The Vinyl Whistle, Leeds, 31st July – DayGlo Studios, St Leonards, 8-30th August – Slow Progress Record and Coffee, Edinburgh, 26th Sept – Rough Trade, Liverpool
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