PRINCETOWN certainly lived up to its name on Friday when it received a welcome visit from Prince Charles, who came to celebrate and see for himself the results of the village's recent multi-million pound regeneration projects.

The Prince of Wales officially opened the new Princetown Village Centre and met supporters and users there, before he walked the short distance to the new Duchy Square Centre for Creativity, where he met artists and craft makers in their workshops.

His visit was part of a busy schedule to the county as he had earlier viewed the Met Office headquarters in Exeter.

Around £6-million has been ploughed into Princetown to regenerate the village since 2003, through Devon County Council with the help of the Duchy of Cornwall. In addition The Duke of Cornwall's Benevolent Fund has provided £100,000 towards the cost of the new village centre.

At the centre the Prince met project funders and members of the local High Moorland Community Action Group who have lead the project since its conception.

Princetown Village Centre will deliver vital services and facilities in one central location. It will provide access to IT facilities, a doctor's surgery, library, children's pre-school facilities and opportunities for various indoor activities such as yoga and other exercise classes.

Gregg Manning, chairman of the High Moorland Community Action Ltd, welcomed the Prince to the centre.

He said: 'This is a culmination of ten years of hard work and an excellent example of what can be achieved by determination and commitment by the local community.

'This is a great day for Princetown.'

Prince Charles then unveiled the plaque to officially open the centre.

He said: 'I'm so glad to be here today to declare this centre open. It provides a new and useful facility for the community of Princetown — so many agencies, including Devon County Council and the Duchy, have come together to make it possible.

'The fact that we have all these facilities, such as the surgery and library, will make such a difference to the people of Princetown. I hope it will provide many years of use.'

Among the many people he met at the Village Centre were the surgery's doctors, Dr Mary Nichols and Dr Geetha Geddam.

He then visited the sports hall where he had a few words with children from Princetown School and headteacher Ali Hurst.

She said: 'He asked the children whether they were enjoying school and what type of work we do. We told him we use the hall for sports also for holiday activities.'

The Prince then walked the short distance to the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity.

The £2-million centre houses 14 small workshops, office space, a gallery for arts and crafts, a shop and a teaching studio in the heart of the village.

The majority of the art/craft units are let and existing businesses include printmaking, jewellery making, weaving and painting.

In addition, there is a gallery, shop and teaching space.

There, Prince Charles talked to staff and tenants of some of the units, including dyer Jane Deane, feltmaker Mary Toon, water colour artist Sarah Bradford, artist Amanda Pellatt and jeweller Lisa Smith.

Jane Deane said: 'I told him we used environmentally friendly and ethically sourced dyes and I make sure I use natural dyes.

'He seemed very interested. The Prince was very charming but then again, I wouldn't have expected anything else.

Sarah Bradford of Lydford, who shares a shop/studio with fellow artist Caroline Keane, said: 'He asked me whether I sold many of my paintings and asked me where I had studied art and I told him in Canada. He told me that he very much liked the art community in Princetown.'

The Prince joined a reception in the gallery for project funders and managers together with representatives from the Dartmoor National Park Authority who have assisted with this project before departing.

He was then shown a recently completed housing scheme at the rear of the centre by Duchy staff, and introduced to some Duchy tenants of the new housing by the Duchy's deputy land agent, Tom Stratton.

Before the Prince left he had time to say hello to the crowd of villagers and visitors before leaving for Exeter to see restoration work being carried out at the city's cathedral.

Rita McDonough, an assistant at the village Post Office, was standing outside the store when the Prince stopped to speak.

She said: 'He asked how the shop was doing, as he has been in here before. He was lovely, it was nice to be remembered.'

On Duchy Square the Prince met the Jenner family — Doug and Janet, and Doug's parents Bob and Vera Jenner — who run Lord's Café and Restaurant.

Doug said: 'He knew we ran the restaurant and asked if we were busy this year and I said we were having a busy time and thanked him for making it such a busy day for trade today.'