The Prince of Wales heaped praise upon a celebrity Westcountry chef for his work in sustaining the public’s “connection with nature”.

Prince Charles described Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as “an amazing beacon” on a visit to the chef’s headquarters at River Cottage near Axminster, Devon.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall looked round the River Cottage garden on the second day of their annual visit to Devon and Cornwall.

Speaking at the reception, Prince Charles told Fearnley-Whittingstall: “I have long admired all your remarkable efforts to remind people of the necessity of our connection with nature and the rediscovery of those artisan traditions, which this country threw away rather unnecessarily.

“I remember 20 years ago you could never find a really interesting cheese in this country except Cheddar but the extraordinary explosion of artisan-made cheeses has been one of the most remarkable things in this country.”

The Prince described Fearnley-Whittingstall’s work as “absolutely crucial in the reconnection, the re-understanding, the reawakening” of the public’s awareness of where food comes from.

He said: “I want to say that you are an amazing beacon, what you’ve done on the side of fishing and trying to reduce over-exploitation has been remarkable.

“I can only wish you every possible success in the future because I know you are training people here to become those in the future who really can carry on doing the vital work.”

Fearnley-Whittingstall said it had been an honour to welcome Charles and Camilla to River Cottage.

He told the Prince. “It was a few years ago that I had the privilege of a tour of your own wonderful vegetable garden at Highgrove and it’s been a great personal pleasure to be able to finally return the compliment.

“I recall that one of the things we talked about that day was the alarming power of industrial agriculture and food production and how it threatened the character and charm of our local artisan food culture.”

Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall said he heard Charles speak at a symposium on marine conservation, at the same time as the launch of the chef’s Fish Fight campaign.

“You said something that day which had really stayed with me,” he went on.

“Something optimistic. That the crisis of overproduction in our seas is essentially a solvable problem.

“And that with the right measures, and the right goals of sustainability in place, our seas would be not less productive than they are now but considerably more productive.”

Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall paid tribute to Charles’s “tireless example and leadership” that helped such issues have a “hearing at the highest level”.

The royal couple tasted a dessert of seaweed chocolate pudding and tried rose petal vodka on the visit.