HRH praises British ingenuity.
His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales visited Liverpool on Monday, tying in a visit to well known rod manufacturer, Harrison Advanced rods.
In a speech presented in the morning, the prince warned that Britain was in danger of relinquishing its world class reputation if more young people were not attracted into the industries.

“He said: "Too often it seems forgotten in this country that Britain is very good at manufacturing and has all sorts of remarkable skills of ingenuity and inventiveness”

"As a country, we are rightly proud of our industrial heritage and we should also celebrate our continued success as a standard-bearer for quality manufacturing and engineering throughout the world."

He also opened the recently-restored Florence Institute for Boys in Dingle, known as "The Florrie". During the afternoon, the prince visited specialist fishing rod manufacturer Harrison Advanced Rods. Company boss, Steve Harrison was delighted to welcome the Prince to his company.

He explained: The Prince of Wales was in high spirits after being invited into a local pub, The Wellington, where he had a half immediately before joining us.

As an angler, he took a keen interest in how fishing rods are made and talked at length to the individual staff on his way around. He had a common interest with Mike Helliwell who also fishes for salmon, but he seemed equally keen to talk about carp and boilies with rod builder Kevin Clayton. He was amused that big carp like the recent world record common (taken on a Harrison rod) had names.

Non anglers in the party also seemed to enjoy the visit and took great interest in the unique blend of high technology materials with a traditional approach to rod building. The prince was obviously well informed and well prepared and seemed to enjoy the visit.

We talked about everything from materials, through each step of making a blank, up to the finished rod. He was also interested in how the staff got into the business and their interests. He talked to David Owens Junior about his interest, triathlons. He also noted the bicycles in the racks, and seemed to approve that some staff ride to work.

At the end of his visit, we presented him with a specially made salmon rod, branded “The Liverpool Rod”, based on our Lorhic spey rods, and he completed his trip by signing our visitors book.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable and memorable day, and something we will all remember for years to come.”