Marlow Bottom

This week there are reports of damage being done to Burford School.

Meanwhile, the village hall has come under attack. This time, while carrying out routine maintenance checks, committee members discovered that a number of tiles had been removed from the roof. The possibility of the damage being due to winds is discounted since the weather has been essentially calm for several weeks, and the dislodged tiles were in a stack.

It is believed that the damage was done last weekend and the committee are concerned about water damage. The consequences could easily have been disruption to the pre-school that meets there every day and to the various groups that use the village hall for their activities.

Bob Hufflett, of the Village Hall Committee, and himself a victim of criminal damage at his shop, was obviously incensed at this latest incident.

Other residents have commented that occasional cases of damage are to be expected in any society.

But one person commented that it is as if our youngsters are hell-bent on carrying out damage purely intended to offend and damage the community.

Most people now reluctantly accept that much of the trouble is coming from youngsters who live in the valley. There is actual and circumstantial evidence to indicate this, according to many residents.

PANTOMIME followers may have wondered why I have been silent about the Wilks family this year. Sorry, my research was deficient and I had concluded they were not in this Marlow Entertainers' production in Court Garden.

I was wrong, and Melvyn Wilks, as Dame, made his presence known in a booming way early on in the show, to the delight of the children. Liz was the demure Fairy, husband Ray and son Andrew were behind the scenes (which they helped to build), and Gemma was in the chorus. So, with those five plus the Rat (an admirably obnoxious creature) and the Alderman from the post office, it is quite a valley affair. Last Saturday's performance produced over £600 for Macmillan Nurses, and you can still see the show, tonight or on Saturday.

Check the details in the post office.

PAVEMENT excavations have a tendency to remain unfinished for weeks. But the one at the entrance to Pheasant Ridge has good reason. There had been a gas leak, and quite a serious one, just after Christmas. Even passing motorists noticed the intense smell of gas. The pipe was repaired promptly, and the base works done on road and pavement (including replacing the granite sets rather than replacing them with the less appealing concrete edges), but the job was not finished and the obstruction remained.

Investigations revealed that the delay is intentional. In cases of severe leaks, the ground is left to 'air' out. Placing a water-proof tarmac surface too soon could trap pockets of gas leading to a risk of an explosion.

If it has not been fixed by the time you read this, it soon will be, but only when it is felt that all gas has been dissipated.

TELEPHONE engineers for BT are still in great abundance daily in the valley. Several of the large engineering vans regularly spill armies of technicians into the many pavement chambers along most of the valley.

Though BT has not been forthcoming with details, it is clear that major refurbishment has been in progress for many months.

During these works, there have been many instances of large numbers of phones being out of action.

One resident makes the point that, if your phone is out of action for more than 24 hours, you may be eligible for compensation from BT. But this is only so if you report the fault directly - do not be put off by a recorded message saying that BT is aware of the problem. It is also necessary to make a specific claim within a reasonable time, and certainly within the same billing period. Several subscribers may have missed their rights by being too tolerant.

ROSE Carnival arrangements have had to change to cope with the new Marlow Town Regatta.

The Carnival will be on June 22, not June 15 as previously advertised.

Next week, at 8 pm on January 24, sees the first real actions towards the valley's biggest social event of the year. Peri Wing will be presiding at a meeting in The Barn Club where the first delegation of duties and responsibilities will be made.

Peri is particularly eager to welcome to this meeting any helpers who are prepared to rise to the challenge of making this year's show yet another record breaker.

FINISHING on a more positive aspect of the youth scene, it is clear that concern for the disaffected youth of the valley is now a top subject for several organisations.

The Playing Field Committee had to dismantle the skate ramp in some secrecy last year.

I was asked not to report on its impending demise as it was thought that would be the signal for vandalism (notice how a car can sit around unscathed for weeks until its wrecking is invited within hours by posting one of those 'Police aware' posters on its windscreen).

But now the committee wants to develop the area left empty with something which is going to appeal to young people and give them something worthwhile to do, possibly a basketball/goal feature. They also want to renovate the surface of the access area to the field.

There will be public discussion before anything is done, possibly involving public meetings.

The Parish Council is known to be looking at the possibility of engaging professional guidance on how to motivate the area's youth to re-engage with the general community. They have not ruled out the possibility of an increased council tax precept to finance something worthwhile.

Even a significant contribution to parish finances would produce little impact on the overall total Council Tax.

It is clear that the police may have positive views to be expressed too. One thing they are cautious about, however, is setting up some new point of focus away from public centres where young people and their activities go un-noticed and unmonitored.

The Valley Church has stated that it has plans, already organisationally and financially sanctioned, to provide a full-time youth counsellor in the area.

A substantial proportion of the new person's attention would be directed to the valley.

An appointment could come as soon as this autumn, now dependent only on identifying a suitable person.

Obviously, the detailed objectives of these organisations will vary to some degree, but it is hoped they will have the wise counsel to derive the greatest benefit for the greatest numbers.

The one thing most commonly revealed by chatter at recognised 'village pumps', like Bernie's and Dhillon's, is that a lot more monitoring of youngsters' activities needs to be done by parents, and some need to spend much more energy counselling their sons and daughters.

By Mike Williams