DISTRICT Council re-alignment, affecting the valley, was under consideration last summer. Views of the residents were over-turned by the government and a new representation by a pair of councillors for a single Greater Marlow ward will come in at the next election.

Now there are discussions taking place about the organisation of Parish Council affairs including possible adjustments of alignments of the responsibilities of its members.

One possible move might be to set up an entirely independent Marlow Bottom Parish Council with autonomous control of budgets and parochial affairs.

There is no formal discussion document, nor process for feeding back views on these matters, but Malcolm Blanksby will be pleased to hear from anybody in the valley, by letter, fax or phone 01628 478448, with any considerations that need attention before any decision is made.

One point that Malcolm emphasises is that this is your only chance to comment, there will be no equivalent of the consultation process from the erstwhile Boundaries Commission.

If you feel strongly about the matter (or simply need information), then comment now; griping later will be to no avail.

EACH year about this time, the village hall playgroup (officially, Marlow Bottom Pre-school Playgroup) gets its children involved in helping themselves. They hold an equipment obstacle course - with sponsorship.

The idea is to set out much of the group's activity equipment along a course and the children set out to see how many circuits of the course they can complete.

It's you, the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and long-suffering neighbours who cough up sponsorship money which, in an unguarded moment of largesse, you commit towards the overall goal.

Usually that goal is to acquire further pieces of equipment to extend the children's scope of activity and, you guessed it, will form part of next year's challenge course.

Anyway, this year is no exception and throughout the week beginning February 18 the children will be striving to relieve you of as much of your generously offered cash as possible. It's all going to add to their educational start in life.

VALLEY Church is a very active organisation. While churches in much of the country are suffering decline, the ecumenical approach of the Valley Church seems to be strengthening.

Apart from having to move some services to Burford School Hall to accommodate the numbers attending, they run a number of activities for young and old in the valley, as well as supporting many organisations through use of the church premises.

Marlow Bottom was also one of the first places outside London to hold one of the famous Alpha Courses, themselves the subject of a television series last year.

What may not be so widely known is that the combined church organises a number of what it calls house groups.

At the moment there are four such groups which meet to discuss a number or religious issues, largely determined by group members.

As the name implies, they meet in private houses and at varying times of the day, best suited to those attending.

As a kind of uniting and synchronising activity for these groups, there are two additional plenary meetings each month. On the first Tuesday they hold a 'teach-in' on a subject selected within the groups, but led by Matthew Reed or Michael Hughes.

Each third Tuesday they hold an informal service led by members of the groups. Both these events take place in the chapel.

There is always a welcome for new members of the existing groups and, no doubt, further groups could be formed if the demand is recognised.

If you would like further information on these less formal church activities, please ring the vicar, Matthew Reed on 01628 472816.

ROSE Carnival organisers have held their first major meeting to get things underway for this year's fete on June 22.

Peri Wing tells me that the committee has lost one or two members with key experience of running aspects of the show. It is a fact that being able to delegate some segment to somebody with total knowledge on how to do it is a great asset. While there are some new members, it follows that they will need help in certain activities until they know the ropes. Talking about ropes, Peri would be grateful if villagers started to think about setting up teams to compete in the Tug o' War competition. Perhaps your road, club, pub, church, even family has the necessary pulling power.

One aspect of changing the date of the Rose Carnival is that the day is now quarter finals day in the world cup.

So the organisation would like to think there is someone out there who could help set up a satellite TV facility. Ideally, Peri would like to get it provided free by some noble company who might also sponsor the hire of a suitable marquee.

Another organisation is sought to sponsor the official programme.

So perhaps as you talk with colleagues in work over the coming weeks you could explore these possibilities and contact Peri 01628 472427. She is also very ready to accept names of volunteers to help organise and man this year's Carnival.

MUNTJACS are pretty common in the valley. Recently, a pair has frequently included in its regular itinerary a few moments staring through the window at us as we eat. It is difficult not to be anthropomorphic about the procedure. It seems clear they keep returning just to confirm their impression that yesterday they really did see this bizarre human eating behaviour.

Now, in recent days, I hear of Roe deer being seen in ones and twos in valley gardens. Much larger than the Muntjacs, it is possible that they have come into populated areas having been disturbed from their normal habitat by one or two big pheasant shoots recently.

It is thought by some residents that, like Muntjacs, the Roe deer are under threat because they are subject to culls for their habit of damaging trees.

ANOTHER watery story. One reader tells me they have identified a suspected mains leak under their living room. He and his wife can hear the water running and turning off the mains stops the noise.

What surprised him is that Thames Water, though prepared to come in the fullness of a couple of weeks to rescue their foundations from leaching, will only respond as an emergency if you can SEE the water escaping.

I suppose if he lifted the carpet and a floor board to give a clear view, that would raise the severity of the matter adequately.

By Mike Williams