William serves 'calorie grenade' cake on dales trip

The Prince of Wales has visited hill farmers in the Yorkshire Dales to discuss the challenges facing their industry.

Prince William visited Adam Hunter, who runs Crow Trees Farm in Swaledale with his wife Leanne and their children.

The prince asked the farmers about the "headwinds" they faced in the industry, which has been hit by rising fuel costs.

After the visit, the 37-year-old said the royal "understood the area and understood a lot more than you would think".

Hunter described diversifying the business by converting the barn into a bunkhouse, which sleeps 27.

"We are doing the farming, making beds and cleaning toilets, we are doing everything," he said.

While he made teas and coffees from the back of his all-terrain vehicle in his yard, Prince William handed over a box of cakes from a local bike stop.

The box includes a brownie and a Twix cake, which he called a "calorie grenade".

Hunter told the prince a strength of Swaledale was the close-knit community where neighbours worked together.

He invited neighbours Philip Metcalfe, 53, and his son James, 23, who run Usha Gap Farm and have opened a campsite, and Michael and Hannah Waggett, both 36, from the nearby Satron Farm.

The Prince of Wales, who as Duke of Cornwall is a major landowner, discussed with the group the different practices favoured by older and younger farmers.

Addressing the Metcalfes, he said: "You clearly have a good relationship, not every generation I have seen has that."

Hunter explained how farmers maintained the beauty of the dale and said if they were not supported, there was no-one else to step into the role.

"We are the cheapest park-keepers that the government can have," he said.

"There's no tourism here without farmers."

After speaking to the prince, Mrs Waggett, who works in a primary school, told reporters: "It felt like he was on our side."

Later, Prince William dropped into Bainbridge, a Wensleydale village, to look at a community project that generates electricity from a hydro plant.

Since 2011, an Archimedes screw in the River Bain has created enough power for 30 local homes.

Retired engineer Tom Fairey, who is a director of the plant, said afterwards: "He asked a lot of sensible and intuitive questions."

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