By Chris Hamilton BBC News Online

Thousands were willing to march - but can they stop war?

They can't resign from the government, they can't wield a United Nations Security Council veto.

But the people who made up Britain's largest ever demonstration in Hyde Park were determined that they should make their point.

Among them was Linus Twizell, a 29-year-old systems analyst from Brighton who was on his first march. He knew it might not force a radical shift in policy but he still hoped to do something to get his voice heard.

Now his euphoria and that of the new friends he met that day has drained away, to be replaced with uncertainty about what to do next.

"I don't think its apathy," says Linus, "but there is a growing feeling that with war seemingly inevitable we still need to make our voices heard and the opportunities just aren't there to do it.

"We're waiting for a lead, some sort of coherent message, and whether it's the fault of the media or the anti-war campaigners that's just not coming through."

It's a mistake to think that if we go to war people will somehow fall into line John Rees Founding member, Stop the War coalition

For John Rees, a founding member of the umbrella Stop the War coalition that helped organise the 15 February march and rally, the campaigning and planning has continued even more vigorously than before.

There are the usual demos and vigils, the letter-writing, fax campaigns and telephone bombardments of 10 Downing Street plus an anti-war concert in London with musicians including Paul Weller and Faithless.

For Rees the next major focus is a "People's Assembly for Peace" in London on Wednesday, where campaigners hope to put flesh on their claim that the anti-war voice is the majority one.

'Important springboard'

Meeting in Westminster, among the 2,000 people expected will be a range of delegates, representative of trade unions, local communities, mosques and churches.

Rees says it will be a "very, very important springboard", but the event has nowhere near the public profile of the 15 February march.

Opinion polls, too, indicate that a second UN resolution could persuade the public to back a war.

We are having trouble coping with the number of people who want to join Click here to read about CND's preparations for war

But Rees insists mainstream British opinion is still solidly against war, and so protest planning must go on.

"We'll be discussing direct action, work based activities... everything from blocking roads to industrial action."

"The school strikes [last week] were just one form of that. They had far more support than people thought and we can expect more of the same."

Beyond that the peace camp is preparing for the very event they are trying to prevent - the outbreak of war.

Elaborate plans are in place to encourage what they hope will be another surge of popular protest should bombs start to fall.

They hope "mass" walkouts will take place from work places, colleges and schools, followed by sit-down protests in the centre of major cities, such as London's Trafalgar Square.

Some say they will make their point however limited the opportunity.

Limited protest

Lizzie, 20, from Cumbria, will be making a solo ten-minute walkout from a tiny High Street coffee shop where she works. Her two colleagues support her but won't be joining in.

"In a non-unionised, low wage workplace this is the only way I can make my voice heard, but it will be heard in a small town like this, it will make a difference," she insists.

War in extreme cases, as a last resort, can be justified but this one isn't and that's very strongly felt by a lot of people Lizzie

She went on the 15 February march in Glasgow and is convinced the anti-war effort is just as motivated now as it was then.

"People are angry, and a lot of the anger is directed against Tony Blair and his government for not listening to us."

John Rees agrees, believing the pro-war camp only has the perceived inevitability of action left to support its case.

But relying on it, he warns, would be a "serious miscalculation" putting "elementary democratic accountability" at stake.

He remains confident the peace campaign still has a lot to say and can make a difference.

"The government and people in favour of war assume they'll pull some trick and stop people coming out on the streets - but they're wrong."

Ministers, and above all Tony Blair, will be hoping that their efforts to persuade people of the moral case for war will mean Rees is the one proved wrong.