I visited Conwy & Caenarfon in March 2015 and Harlech & Beaumaris in May 2016. Entry to the castles is now £6 each.

In Conwy and Caenarfon only English people lived within the walls of the town, which acted as a centre for the administration of the local area. Of the four, I think Conwy has been most spoilt by modernity due to the ugly road and rail bridges that jut out across the river right next to the castle

Caernarfon felt less spoilt. We drank at a historic pub, the Black Boy Inn, which, being within the city walls of a World Heritage Site, was just my cup of tea. The following morning my brother and I toured the castle in the rain.

Harlech was probably my favourite of the four, and has a newly refurbished café and visitor centre to boot. From the turrets you get a great view of the sea and coastline – the latter of which is now significantly further from the castle’s walls than it was in Edward’s time.

Beaumaris castle is located at the other end of the Menai Strait to Harlech, sitting at its northern mouth. Beaumaris is a schoolboy’s idea of what a castle should look like. Surrounded by a moat, it follows a classic concentric design – consisting of an outer wall and an inner wall. UNESCO calls it one of “the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe”. These days it seems to belong to the seagulls, dozens of which were nesting up in the ramparts when we walked around.

After the castle we returned to the mainland via the Menai Suspension Bridge. I had assumed it was newer than the 1864 Clifton Suspension Bridge near where I live, but it was in fact completed in 1828, making it the oldest major suspension bridge in the world, if I’m not mistaken.