Hen comes home to roost for party

WHEN Jessica Winter moved away from Sindlesham at the age of 16, she never thought she would see the house she grew up in again.

That is, until her friends started planning her hen party, and realised that her beloved family home had been turned into a bed and breakfast.

Bride Jessica Winter (right) with her bridesmaid Chiara Scinto

Now living in Bristol, bride Jessica enlisted the help of bridesmaids Chiara Scinto and Ria Rylatt-Chandaman, to hold the hen party of her dreams, including a relaxing break at nearby Nirvana Spa and a meal at The Walter Arms.

Now known as Mayfields Guest House, the hotel boasts four en-suite double bedrooms, two bedrooms with a shared bathroom, and a large breakfast room which had been decorated by the 11 hens on Saturday (25).

Jessica said: “It is definitely nice to be back in the house, but it has changed a bit. I used to have a bedroom, bathroom and lounge to myself, but they have now been changed into two separate rooms.

“The new owners have re-decorated and added an extension, but It’s a bit like going back in time, even my next door neighbours are the same as when I lived here.”

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Jessica moved away from Sindlesham to Dorset in 2006 after finishing her GCSEs at The Holt School, where she met best friend Chiara, but the pair stayed in touch and are now planning Jessica’s marriage to partner of five years, Gary Riley, in September.

Chiara said: “It’s strange to be back in the house, but it’s really lovely too. We came for a visit before we booked, and it was really strange. I practically lived her for a summer when we were younger, I was always staying over and visiting Jess. And as she loved the house so much when she was growing up, we thought where better to hold her hen party?”

Lesley Doyle who owns Mayfields said: “We remember Jess from when we bought the house from her mum and dad all those years ago. We were quite shocked when Chiara contacted us to enquire about holding the hen party here as we had never heard of anything like this before, and this was the first hen party we’ve held.

“The girls hired out all the rooms which we were happy to do, and we let them have full run of the house to get ready and have fun.

“We changed the house into a B&B four years ago as we have great links to Reading and the surrounding areas, and we are just a short walk to Nirvana Spa which I think the girls really enjoyed.

“They were a lovely group and we were really happy to have them stay with us.”