The Prince of Wales visits Warwickshire and Northamptonshire

The Prince of Wales has visited Warwickshire and Northamptonshire for a day of engagements across both counties.

The first engagement of the day was at Drapers’ Hall in Coventry, where The Prince heard about a project to transform the 19th century building into a music venue and education centre for young musicians.

The project is one The Prince’s Foundation’s "7 for 70" initiatives - a collection of schemes to create community regeneration projects across the UK to mark The Prince's milestone birthday.

Geoff Willcocks, Vice Chairman of Historic Coventry Trust which is working with The Prince's Foundation to revive the hall, said: "I think The Prince thought it was a fantastic project.

"Now seeing it in the flesh, he can actually appreciate how beautiful this building is and how incredibly well preserved some areas are."

His Royal Highness was taken on a tour of the building, which has been empty for the past 30 years, and into a dark basement to see a Second World War air raid shelter.

It survived the Second World War bombing despite being a few metres from Coventry's cathedral, which was destroyed.

Next, The Prince of Wales continued his visit to Coventry at taxi manufacturer the London EV Company.

His Royal Highness was shown a collection of heritage vehicles representing the firm's 70 years of black taxi production, from the FX3, released in 1948, to London's new electric taxi, TX eCity, which went on sale last year.

The Prince met staff and toured the manufacturing plant before unveiling a plaque to mark the visit.

The Prince of Wales then travelled to Northampton to visit shoemaker Tricker's, a company that is marking its 190th anniversary this year. Established in 1829, Tricker's has held a Royal Warrant from His Royal Highness since 1989 and still uses traditional shoemaking methods.

His Royal Highness was shown wooden moulds, known as lasts, used to make shoes for The Queen, Gringotts goblins from the Harry Potter films and size 22 lasts for former American basketball star Shaquille O'Neal.

The Prince wished the firm happy birthday during his visit, saying: "Many congratulations everybody on reaching your 190th birthday.

"Sorry it has taken me 190 years to get here. [It is] marvellous to see such a highly skilled operation. I do congratulate you and I hope you manage to keep it all going for many, many more years."

The Prince of Wales ended the day of engagements by visiting one of the country's newest footwear companies, Gaziano & Girling in Kettering. The Prince toured the factory and saw how the company uses traditional handcrafting and manufacturing skills to create both bespoke and ready-to-wear shoes.

The company opened the factory in 2009; the first shoe factory that has opened in Northamptonshire in over 100 years

His Royal Highness watched as Chelese Porter, 29, showed off her stitching skills as she made a shoe and the worker said afterwards: “I was honoured and very proud to show a dying skill.”