JOINING the thousands who marched to protest against war against Iraq in London last weekend were four teenagers from Okehampton College.
Sammy Burdus, aged 16, and friends Tess and Kate Freeman and Susie Povey boarded a bus from Okehampton at 6am to make the journey to the capital.
Sammy said: ?We felt we had to go to make our point ? we?re not members of a peace group, we just don?t want war.?
Sammy said the atmosphere on the march was ?really good?.
?It was very busy, it was really tightly packed when we were walking, but everyone was very polite.
?I think we got our point across and the speeches at the end really got everyone going ? there was a very positive atmosphere.
?I?m really glad I went, it was a great experience ? we all thought it was worth going.?
Sammy said they did not see many people their own age ? most were adults, although some families brought their children along.
Sammy and her friends arrived back at Okehampton at about 10.30pm and said they were all ?very pleased? they had made the effort to go.
CAMPAIGNERS for peace in Okehampton say they were delighted with the support they received for their demonstration in the town last Saturday.
Ana Pulteney, spokesperson for Okehampton Peace Coalition, said many people took part in the vigil, despite bitterly cold weather.
Mrs Pulteney said: ?We collected 414 signatures on our petition to oppose military action on Iraq and we thought that was very encouraging ? we also collected just over £75 for the peace coalition, which I thought was quite amazing.
?We had a lot of positive support and I thought a lot of people felt very relieved there was some action for peace in their locality. Whether we?ve managed to achieve anything by it we will have to wait and see.?
Mrs Pulteney said several drivers tooted their horns in support of the demonstration as they passed by, and some shopkeepers also left their tills to sign the peace petition.
She said Okehampton Peace Coalition will be taking further action to spread the anti-war message but are waiting to see what happens nationally and internationally during the coming week before any decision on the next move is made.