Prince Charles sampled cheese and cider at a farmers' market

The history surrounding the one-time pigsty at Leighton Home Farm, near Welshpool, clearly intrigued the royal visitor.

The prince was also shown around a barn and a converted mill, and later visited a farmers' market and tasted cider.

His annual summer tour has seen him visit north and south Wales as well.

He arrived by royal train in Welshpool in the morning and chatted to onlookers who had gathered to greet him.

He said he wasn't a cider drinker but his sons would be Cider-maker Gerald Davies after giving Prince Charles a bottle of Berriew Cider

One who asked where was his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, was told by him that she was launching a submarine.

Later, inside the former pigsty, the prince inspected a �1,300 dining table made from locally-sourced hardwood by the Rotunda Designs furniture firm.

Furniture-maker Paul Phillips said the prince had been particularly interested in where the factory sourced its wood.

"He asked where the timber comes from and what the workshop was originally used for," Mr Phillips said.

Powys Council and the Prince's Regeneration Trust are currently working together to find new uses for empty buildings at the farm.

The prince at an Iron Age roundhouse in Anglesey on Thursday

The prince also visited Welshpool Town Hall, where he joined local sheep farmers to discuss a project to boost tourism and agriculture in the Cambrian Mountains.

He then stopped off at a farmers' market held at the town hall, sampling cheese, sausages and picking up a punnet of strawberries. He also spent time chatting to shoppers and food producers.

Cider-maker Gerald Davies, who ferments apple juice in rum-soaked casks, persuaded the prince to sample his produce.

Mr Davies, who runs Berriew Cider from his nearby farm, presented the prince with a �2.50 bottle with an alcohol content of 7%.