I've been buying loads of bits too.
Main bike new bits this year:
Back wheel (Hope/DT/Mavic 717)
Back Brake (Magura Louise 160)
Bar (Titec Hellbent Flat Tracker)
Pedals (Onza Hognesium)
Right hand shifter (X.0)
Cassette (M760)
Chain (PC991)
I'm just about to build up my second bike (rigid singlespeed/commuter), largely with bits that have been upgraded from. For now that will comprise:
Marin Nail Trail '95
Onza Flyguy forks with integral Magura mount (no V bosses)
Goldtec/DT/Mavic front wheel
Truvativ/DT/Mavic rear wheel
32:18 singlespeed gearing
Magura HS22 front brake (no rear)
La Toilette - If your bear valley did not come with suspension then the geometry may well not be set for it (my '95 nail trail isn't). Adding too tall a fork will slacken the head angle off too much, making the bike rather slow-steering (equally, putting too short a fork on a suspension geometry frame will result in too steep a head angle, and it will be too twitchy and inclined to throw you off). Also, if the head angle becomes too slack, the forces transmitted to the frame change, and the head tube can be snapped off.
I would stick to a short-travel fork. 63mm is probably about ideal, and certainly would not go any more than 75mm travel. You can get a RockShox Judy J2 for £65 new, but at 2.5kg it's far from light. I'd be more inclined to look out for a 63mm travel rockshox SID on ebay. You may well need to switch to threadless headset and stem at the same time.