No matter how many stories we do about HMP Berwyn, there always seem to be commenters on our social media pages who assume inmates are getting an "easy" time at the jail.

I've seen some go as far as to suggest they're in some kind of state-sponsored holiday facility, with such luxuries as TVs and laptops in their rooms, and all kinds of training opportunities in a variety of fields.

I put this perception of the prison to Governor Nick Leader when I visited the establishment at the beginning of December.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, he had not only anticipated it, he'd given it some thought.

"Is prison easy?" he asked. "My general view would be no.

"70 per cent of our men share cells, which means they are in a very small living environment which has a toilet and shower in it.

"They share that with someone they almost certainly don't know and they may not like - who may have different views on life. Some might have substance misuse issues.

"The whole idea of saying that's easy - I challenge anyone to say that spending 12 hours in a small room, having to use the toilet and shower with someone less than six feet away from them is a luxurious state."

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"They're in that same small box where they don't have the ability to move out of that cell and go for a walk," he continued.

"If they may be having difficulties with a cellmate, they have to work through that whereas if you're having difficulties with someone on the outside, you could just give yourself that space."

The prison also challenges inmates' behaviour by restricting liberties within the prison further depending on the situation - such as limiting family visits, or access to activities.

And if a prisoner wants something that isn't part of the basic provision - some toiletries, biscuits or a vape for instance - they have to earn those things.

True, some inmates may have family members on the outside who are able to send some money into them - but that isn't the norm, Mr Leader said, and isn't available for a lot of men.

For those who don't have that, the average pay for a job within the prison is £10 a week.

Imagine buying the three things above for a tenner in the outside world - that's probably your lot for the week.

"For the rest," Mr Leader said, "they're reliant on what we provide - which is of a good standard, but it isn't luxurious by any stretch."

I had a chance to look around a double cell myself and see just how it fared against that image of "luxury."

It has what one would need to function, but it certainly didn't feel like a five star hotel!

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The laptops, which seem to have caught a lot of people's attention when the prison opened, aren't connected to the internet.

They enable the men to do education and book visits, and meals - and that's really it.

Yes, they have a TV. But we're not talking a wide-screen cinema surround sound system with on-demand streaming services - it's a very basic, plain, relatively small TV which comes with a basic package of free channels.

The beds looked suitably usable, but by no means luxurious. 

As for the cell as a whole, I have to agree with Mr Leader; if you're locked up in one of these cells with someone you don't know or potentially like, it's not going to be a comfortable stay.

Mr Leader made another interesting point, which is that there are "no special favours" for people who come from "well-to-do" backgrounds, and anyone could end up in prison for making a mistake or a bad decision.