Hundreds of people filled the centre of Tavistock to catch a glimpse of the Tavistock Community Festival of Food and Crafts’ guests of honour the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall today (Tuesday).

The summer sun was beaming down on the town as it welcomed its royal visitors, with bunting and Union Jacks adorning Bedford Square and the high street ahead of their arrival.

Their Royal Highnesses were in Tavistock to attend the town’s Community Festival of Food and Crafts and to celebrate the recent restoration of Butchers’ Hall with local community groups and organisations.

They arrived in Bedford Square shortly after noon, taking the time to shake hands and greet many of those who had turned out to see them.

Ernest and Janet Jones met the Prince of Wales shortly after his arrival in the town centre. The couple had travelled more than 200 miles to see the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.

Janet said: ‘We were very excited to meet them. The prince was so friendly and charming.’

Horrabridge resident Colin White wrote a letter to the Duchess before her arrival. He said: ‘It was wonderful to meet her in person — the Duchess told me it was nice to put a face to the letter she received from me.’

Mark Smith brought his two daughters Clara, aged five and a pupil at Mary Tavy and Brentor Primary, and Violet, aged four, out for the big day and all three managed to shake hands with the Prince of Wales.

Mark said: ‘What a great day, we are all so happy to have met Prince Charles. At first he thought Clara and Violet were brother and sister but he was quick to realise his mistake!’

Julie Hinckley currently lives in Bristol, but is restoring a house in Tavistock with plans to move down to the town permanently once the project is finished. She was lucky enough to meet both Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

She said: ‘I am a big time fan of the Royal family but this is the first time I have been lucky enough to meet any of them. It has been such a great day! Tavistock is such a beautiful town and I can’t wait to move down here — what a day for such a great place.’

Youngster Poppy Jefferies presented a bouquet of flowers to the Prince of Wales in Bedford Square. She said it was ‘scary but really’ great to meet Prince Charles.

After meeting the crowds, Charles and Camilla strolled around the festival’s farmers’ market to meet stallholders and sample some of their local Devon produce. As they walked around the square, Tavistock’s Stannary Brass Band played some accompanying music — including the theme tune to smash hit television show Game of Thrones.

Rachel Bateman and Hayley Collman were manning the Tre Pol Pen stall in Bedford Square. Rachel said: They sampled some of our blueberry and elderflower cordial and Camilla tried a saffron bun — they said it was all delicious of course! They were both very friendly and it was great to meet them.’

The Duchess paid a visit to the stall for M & D Flowers, chatting to Matt Ewens. He said: ‘She asked where we were based and told us that she liked what we were doing with the flowers, our up-cycled chair and everything with the stall. We gave her a bouquet and she seemed very happy with that too.

‘It has been a great day for Tavistock and the whole area — we’re from Yelverton, it’s just great to be part of it.’

Tim and Cat Gowan run Torview Wines at Sheepwash — Charles and Camilla stopped at their stall in the square to sample some of their produce.

Tim said: ‘They sampled our Rondo 2014 wine — it’s the heaviest wine we do. It was such an honour, particularly to have Camilla, who is the president of Wine GB, sample our wine. She has been such a long time supporter of our industry.’

The Royal couple were then guided into Tavistock Pannier Market for a brief sojourn before they paid visits to Howell’s of Tavistock, de la Torre’s and Country Cheeses, shops in the pannier market perimeter.

Just outside Howell’s of Tavistock, Lucy Vasquez-Rios met Camilla with her baby daughter Josephine, who arrived just two days before the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son Archie.

She said: ‘It was amazing to meet her. We have been waiting all day to see them and to get to talk to her was wonderful. Camilla was so lovely — she was so interested and so friendly.’

Andy Howell from Howell’s of Tavistock said: ‘Charles took a particular interest in our tomato and basil sausages so hopefully we’ve got the Royal seal of approval now. It has been a brilliant day. It is nice to be put on the map occasionally like this, a great day for the town.’

Charles and Camilla then enjoyed a reception in the recently restored Butchers’ Hall with local charitable organisations and community groups.

The Prince of Wales spoke to Tavistock Lions’ Club members Steve Grummitt and Ian Dingle, who between them have 90 years of experience with the Lions.

Steve said: ‘An interesting thing we discussed is that his sister-in-law, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, is a patron of Lions’ Club and a member of Wokingham Lions’ Club. It was a fantastic thing for Tavistock and great to meet him.’

His Royal Highness also spent some time talking to Tom Hynes of the Devon Hedge Group. Tom said: ‘It was very exciting and very nice to chat to someone who is interested in similar subjects to us. I know he organises great hedge-laying contests and is very interested in our country’s hedgerows, which could potentially be the most important habitat in Devon.’

Cathy Hipsey, an outreach worker for Tavistock Area Support Services, spoke to Prince Charles about InTouch Tavi, a guide to the information and support available within the Tavistock area.

She said: ‘It’s the second time this year I’ve met him actually, the first at a garden party earlier this year. It is prestigious to have something like this in Tavistock and wonderful to get the chance to chat to him about InTouch Tavi.’

Shortly before they left the Butchers’ Hall reception, Dartmoor Search and Rescue’s David Johnson spoke to the Duchess about the work of the group.

He said: ‘What a wonderful day to highlight Tavistock. We spoke about how busy we’ve been this year and the great expense it takes running the group. Now we just need some rain to tempt people off the moor and slow down the number of rescues!’

As Charles and Camilla left the market and entered back into Bedford Square, students from Tavistock College performed songs from Matilda The Musical on stage. The school has been selected as a champion school in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Change My Story project, working with the RSC to put on a production of the smash musical.

Principal of Tavistock College Sarah Jones said: ‘We are very excited to be performing in such circumstances and we are delighted to be able to show the people of Tavistock excerpts from Matilda which was a great success when the children performed the show last week. We thank the RSC, of which Prince Charles is patron, for its support and sponsorship of the show.’

The Duke and Duchess were presented with a hamper and cake before making their exit, travelling on to Lostwithiel. Earlier in the day they visited Ginsters in Callington to celebrate 50 years of the pasty firm. The Royal couple had been on a three-day visit to the Duchy which they do annually.

Mayor of West Devon Cllr Tony Leech met both Charles and Camilla during their visit, accompanying them for much of their tour. He said: ‘What a brilliant day for Tavistock and for West Devon as a whole. It is a great privilege to have their Royal Highnesses here. You only need to look around the smiling faces enjoying the great atmosphere to see that it has been a really good day.’

Pick up your copy of the Times this week for pictures by Times photographer James Bird. Pictures with this report by Tom French.