The Hive Football Ground, Ongar Road, Brentwood, Essex, CM15
The Essex town of Brentwood lies about twenty miles northwest of the city of London just on the northern fringes of the M25 orbital motorway. Today, the town is home to an amateur football club known as Brentwood Town who play their home matches at Brentwood Centre Arena.
But it is at an earlier football venue in the town that no longer exists, that once hosted Greyhound Racing at a temporary level. The venue was known as The Hive and was situated one mile north of Brentwood town centre. The Hive, which lay adjacent to Ongar Road, developed on farmland during the early 1950’s and was used to stage home matches for Brentwood and Warley Football Club.
Early days had seen a shelter built on one side of the ground, with a wooden small main stand on the other, which was replaced in 1958 by a much larger 500-seater stand. Greyhound Racing featured at the venue in 1967 but little is known on how long it lasted, presumably for just one season only.
Further info reveals that the lure was pulled by a cable attached to the engine of a stationary wagon parked adjacent to the winning line, which on odd occasions would snag up, inviting all the hounds to catch it before the race was over. Success by the football club had seen them turn professional in 1965, but by 1970 the club had gone due to them merging with Chelmsford City.
Sadly, the ground was sold and later built on, with houses on Viking Way now pinpointing its once location.
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