MANY valley dwellers know and probably have had cause to be grateful to Mandy Harris. Mandy has died from a very long-lasting and challenging illness. Some friends and ex-colleagues have said they would appreciate her being remembered in this column, as she was so much a part of Marlow Bottom.

Having worked in Thames Valley Properties and, at times, with Karen Moody’s office, she will have helped a lot of valley houseowners with all the demanding details of fulfilling various administrative needs in house purchase or sale. I always recall a welcoming smile whenever I went in just to have photocopies or send a telex and she certainly leaves a warm and helpful image with all who met her.

After so many promising signs, over years, that she may have overcome her health problems, her husband Peter and their four children must now feel distraught, but perhaps they can come to appreciate some solace from realising so many people feel the more fulfilled for having known her.

Mandy’s funeral will be at Amersham crematorium at 11.30am on February 1.

‘FAMOUS in the Free Press’ was a victim of my disrupted lifestyle last year. Now it’s back, with enthusiastic support from the pre-schools. This week, it’s the families of the following young learners who may feel inclined to send additional copies of the paper to extended family members worldwide.

Good luck to Henry Coombs, Nivetha Mankikandan, Eshal Hussain, Euan Speare, Morghan Platt, Aaron Regan, Matthew Dilks, Charlie Carter, Harry Carter, Eleanor Clayton, Luca Degan, Grace Perry-Adlam, and Amelie Gosling. They have all joined St Mary’s Pre-school recently, or are about to do so, and we wish them every success on that long educational pathway.

There’ll be more next week about the pre-school’s planned fascinating activities.

ARRANGING a communal treat before Christmas, as intended proved too complicated to resolve so all the residents of Patches Field have it to look forward to, individually, next week. At lunchtime on January 31, Gav and the staff at the valley fish and chip shop will serve a free meal to them all, delivered to their doors. Chris and Maria are going to make sure that individual preferences are taken care of as far as possible.

DISCUSSING the value and consequences of speed cameras is an absorbing subject for conversations. Most people have powerful opinions for one stance or another. To be fair, the common characteristic of the varying arguments is that they are usually based on opinion without the benefit of much objective fact. Valley News and various village meetings frequently feature vigorous discussions that illustrate that.

There is a Government directive that Road Safety Partnerships, the organisations that commonly manage speed cameras on behalf of local authorities, should, in the interest of greater public transparency and accountability, publish meaningful and accessible performance information relating to individual speed cameras.

The specific group that does this within Bucks and the Thames Valley has asked the Parish Council to ensure that the local population is made aware of how to access the results of their analyses of data published by The Thames Valley Police and the Thames Safer Roads Partnership.

The very extensive information provided on their website considers rated road collision performances of individual cameras, offence rates of individual speed cameras, road safety versus income generation, and the extent to which the scheme has changed driver behaviour. The amount of information is well beyond the capacity of this column or the space availability of Valley News, so you will need to have a computer or a computer-owning neighbour to be able to access the information.

I tried to encourage the organisation that a convenient synopsis for public consumption would be appropriate, but no such concise interpretation is available. While the tables published seem exhaustive and very professionally presented, I would suggest that many people would also find them exhausting; certainly, some seriously attentive study would be necessary to gain a truly informed understanding of this most controversial subject.

However, anybody motivated to campaign for or against cameras owes it to everyone to make the effort to digest these facts before promulgating their opinions. The website is below, but be warned it is not classic, light, bedtime reading, but it does seem to answer just about every factual question you could think of.

Visit www.info4u-bucksspeedcameras.co.uk/ REMINDING you about the Valley Plus meeting next week, and the talk about the transfer to digital TV, I quite forgot to tell you there is another topic that will precede the two Johns. At 2pm Chris Holden, Bucks Senior Trading Standards Officer, will talk and answer questions until 2.45pm CROCODILES, Cakes And The Queen’s Petticoats are now apparently all available from Amazon in one compact set.

Over the past year, members of the WI have been following a bespoke writing course, set up as a result of collaboration with Queenbee Press. The idea was that members might get together in small local groups to encourage and inspire each other. Marlow Bottom WI was one branch that decided to get involved and their contributions, with those from many other parts of the country, can be read in the resulting book, Crocodiles, Cakes and the Queen’s Petticoats.

A copy will be on display in Marlow library from February 7 to 11 with photos of our local writing group – some familiar faces there for you to spot!

Members’ comments included: “We weren’t sure what we were signing up for. We didn’t know what fascinating lives our fellow members had led. We never realised that we could write, how each of us would develop her own style. But then, we never knew what fun we would have and what friends we would become. Between us, we’ve survived bombs, blockades, international conflict, collapsing ceilings, being charged by buffaloes – and even a WI writing project!”

If you would like a copy of your own, the book is obtainable from Amazon and costs £12.99.

JENNIE Browning, Residents’ Association spokesman, picked up on the anticipated popularity of the visit of Sister Act to High Wycombe in March, and wants to alert you all to a Wycombe Swan offer for groups to see the show. It offers ten per cent off groups of six or more and the seventh ticket is free. To get this discount you need to book and pay for the tickets by January 31 (next Tuesday). As far as I can tell, there is no formal association of ‘group’ members required; six or more neighbours or friends would presumably qualify. Jennie reckons it’s a good outing.

To book, either phone the box office on 01494 512000 or go to the website www.wycombeswan.co.uk PROTRACTED negotiations for the Steve Redgrave sculpture have hit another glitch, but there is hope of news of progress soon – I'll keep you informed as soon as diplomatically appropriate.