THOUSANDS of West Devon's residents boarded coaches, trains and packed cars to travel to London last weekend for one of the largest demonstrations seen in the capital.
Men, women and children of all ages and from all walks of life joined the Countryside Alliance's March for Liberty and Livelihood.
But as the protesters reflect on the positivity and success of the day, they have yet to be convinced that the Government is taking note.
Local celebrity and campaigner for rural issues Noel Edmonds, who went on the march with his wife Helen, said there was a danger that very quickly the situation would go from debate to demonstration to disorder.
'It is the politicians who have something to fear because they are proposing a situation that is unacceptable to a huge number of people,' he said.
'One minister had the cheek to say 400,000 people was a minor fraction of the overall population of this country, but that it a huge part of the rural population and for every one person who walked there was ten at home in support.'
Mr Edmonds, who lives at Jacobstowe and instigated the 'Heart of Devon Appeal' during the foot and mouth crisis, described the day as one of the most extraordinary of his life. He was overwhelmed by the sheer number and diversity of the people at the event who came from all the rural counties of the country and even Europe and America.
'I have never taken part in a public protest, not even in my student days, and just to be part of that was awesome,' he said.
'Everyone was there for one simple reason, not purely hunting, but that we have a deaf and blind Government which is not hearing or seeing what is going on in the countryside.'
Mr Edmonds said there were people from all walks of life campaigning on issues such as rural post offices, small businesses, farming and housing.
'I think, particularly in this part of Devon, people tend to feel they have an agenda that no-one else shares but that couldn't be further from the truth,' he said.
'This march has shown that the issues we feel strongly about in Devon are consistent with the rest of the country, whether it be Yorkshire, Cumbria, Scotland or Ireland.
'Country people can see that if fox hunting is abolished the thread will be taken away and the whole of the fabric of the countryside will start to unravel.'
The former TV star said he was not a hunt supporter, but he felt very much part of the countryside since moving into the Jacobstowe community.
'I am an Essex boy and I know London like the back of my hand, but I feel much more comfortable with country people than I do with any city dweller,' he said. 'I did not prepare myself for how emotional it would be when the two marches came together in Whitehall, but it was like a tidal wave of humanity.'
John Burnett, MP for West Devon and Torridge, said: 'I have never seen the streets of London so full. The atmosphere was very good humoured and well disciplined and there was complete silence as people passed the Cenotaph and 10 Downing Street.'
Mr Burnett said the march was to highlight many issues, not least of which were the low levels of funding for health and education in West Devon.
'One of the first debates we will have when the house re-assembles is on education funding, and the fact that we in Devon receive £200 less per pupil than in most other counties.
'I hope the march will be a reminder to the prime minister that these unfair disparities must be closed,' said Mr Burnett.
Conservative spokesman for West Devon and Torridge, Geoffrey Cox, said it was 'heartening' to see so many people making their point on a 'well mannered and orderly' march and he hoped their efforts would 'not be in vain'.
'There was one clear message that the London politicians should have heard: listen to us, we are as much a part of this nation as anyone else,' he said.
Jane Austen, who was the fourth generation of her family to take on the role of master of the South Tetcott Foxhounds, said people were prepared to become militant because they were so frustrated.
'The Countryside Alliance wants us to remain calm, but our patience is beginning to run out,' she added.
'The Government is stopping us from living the life we want to and that is totally wrong.' She said the majority of people who were against fox hunting did not understand it.
'They are not worried about the foxes, they are more worried about "toffs on horses" which is what they think we are,' she said.
'My whole life is hunting — I raise puppies in the summer and go hunting in the winter, but it is not my life at stake, it is the countryside that will be in ruins if this ban goes ahead.'
Professor Michael Winter from Hatherleigh, who is the director of the Centre for Rural Research at Exeter University, said it would be difficult for the Government to ignore the level of people who attended the march on Sunday.
'The Government is caught between a cleft stick — if it goes one way on the issue of fox hunting it gets aggro from the Countryside Alliance and if it goes the other there will be aggro from its backbench MPs,' he said. 'I would not like to place a bet on it but I think the countryside march will have had an affect on this issue, if nothing else.
'Some of the other things people were campaigning on are harder to deal with, but I think its been a real eye-opener to officials within Whitehall's corridors of power.'
Lydford's Diana Moyse, a member of Lamerton Hunt, said that despite the fact her coachload, some of whom were elderly, endured a very long day and walked a lot further than the march itself, the spirit of the participants was excellent.
'They felt so strongly they were prepared to put up with some discomfort. We were about the last from the counting point of view and even at that point people were still jubilant,' she said.
Alex Warne, hunt member and owner of the East Dart Hotel at Postbridge, said: 'I have the pleasure of being able to say I was there on the corner of Parliament Square when the 400,000 mark was passed on the big screen.
'There was a wave of cheers and applause, to the accompaniment of Land of Hope and Glory.' Mr Warne 'firmly believed' in the right to continue hunting.
'My business depends to a great extent on hunting — I estimate 50% of our winter business relates to it,' said Mr Warne.
l Pictures — pages 14 & 35.