Gordon Denman's blog

Dyers of Ilminster has just been classified by English Heritage as a grade 2 listed building of national importance. This independent department store with original façade and fine wood interior has been serving customers since 1871 and is one of a number of attractive and individual shops in Ilminster, including others which are also very long-established. Ask for the town's shopping leaflet at Ilminster Local Information Centre in the Meeting House Arts Centre.

We have now added a link on the booking page of the Myrtle House website that allows you to check online as to which dates are available for bookings. We hope that this facility will help you to plan your holidays more effectively, whether or not you are actually able to stay with us!

Finally on 21 September 2009 a BT Broadband connection was established in the house. Our visitors will now be able to use this facility should they wish.

You may not know, because it is one of "Somerset's Best Kept Secrets", that Cheddar Caves houses the largest colony of Greater Horseshoe bats in the country ... and they are Britain's rarest mammals. We recently learned that:

Did you know that Cheddar Gorge has the finest collection of inland limestone climbing crags in the entire country? Apparently it was here that Chris Bonnington trained for Everest!

Cheddar Caves & Gorge Tourism has been working with Martin Crocker, the author of The Cheddar Gorge Climbing Guide, The Climbers’ Club and The British Mountaineering Council to restore 300 of the best climbs and make them available for recreational climbing for up to 10 months a year. Please see www.cheddarcaves.co.uk and go to RockSport Adventure Days/Climbing Access.

Each year we are subject to a rigorous inspection by an independent body on behalf of Visit Britain, the national tourist authority. This year was no exception and the Inspector's overall summarising comments are repeated below:

While holidays ought to be for "getting away from it all" - and Myrtle House is certainly excellent for this! - we all know that sometimes we all need to keep an eye on things at work or elsewhere, for which a connection to the internet can be very useful.

As well as being let for self-catering holidays and short stays, the house is also used by me and my wider family for weekend breaks. Therefore we are twice as keen to make sure the property is always completely up to scratch! Myrtle House is now looking better than ever, having gained a new set of downstairs carpets and some more interior decoration. After a recent trip, my daughter's family were very positive about the improvements, which made their last stay there all the better.

Night storage heaters are great, so long as you know what the temperature will be tomorrow. For a holiday, though, you can't beat a decent, thermostatically controlled heating system. That is why we are pleased to say that we have just completed a major overhaul of Myrtle House's heating and hot water system.

An oil-fired central heating boiler has been fitted, powering the radiators in each room as well as heating hot water on demand (a so-called combi system). So guests can now keep really warm and benefit from unlimited hot water (but don't forget your carbon footprint!)