Grab a key (literally) and unlock the secrets of Denbigh, a forgotten corner of North Wales

You don’t have to look far to spot a castle in Wales – with more than 600 dotted around it, it boasts more per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world.

But while Hogwarts-style monuments such as Caernarfon are still World Heritage Sites, why don’t we know as much about all the others?

During our visit to Denbigh it quickly becomes clear that a lack of recognition for the castle is not something that the locals particularly hold on to.

“It’s our castle, that’s all that matters,” a guy tells us as we climb the hill to visit this weathered ruin.

This sense of warmth is evident throughout our visit to this tranquil corner of North Wales, in the green valley and heather-clad fields of the Vale of Clwyd.

Angela writes that the castle and its thick walls once kept out ‘marauding hordes’

While the castle and the thick walls surrounding the city kept out marauding hordes for hundreds of years, now any passing tourist – or barbarian – can open it all with a key retrieved from the library.

For just a £5 deposit – the library is housed in the 16th-century former county house – your key unlocks access to this 13th-century fortress that remains an unfathomable presence in Denbigh.

Meanwhile, in the center of Denbigh itself we also find history on every corner – there are more listed buildings here than in any other town in Wales.

Angela reveals that Denbigh has more listed buildings than any other town in Wales. Upstairs is the city center

With Denbighshire having so much to offer we decide to stay a 40 minute drive from the city and book into the privately owned Palé Hall Hotel on the edge of the Berwyn Mountains.

Closer to Denbigh itself is the market town of Ruthin, whose castle, even more modest in its crumbling remains, now stands in the grounds of the aptly named Ruthin Castle And Spa Hotel.

But that’s the appeal of this part of Wales: old and new walk side by side with ease.

Size and style don’t matter, and it’s a feeling that makes you feel at home.

Angela checks in at the Palé Hall Hotel (pictured), which is a 40-minute drive from the city

Palé Hall is one of the few five-star hotels in North Wales. Upstairs is the large great room

Where to stay: Palé Hall, elegantly situated amongst 20 hectares of the Dee Valley,palehall.co.uk) is one of the few five-star hotels in North Wales.

But it’s the sense of history that draws us in – not least because it has remained largely unchanged since it was built around 1869.

The style is partly ostentatious Jacobean, partly modestly aristocratic. The ceilings are enormous, the fireplaces vast, the atmosphere pure Sunday tea time drama.