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Sparkles Hotel, formally The Kingsley Hotel was
built between 1896 - 98 as one of a pair of Victorian guesthouses.
The first "semi - detached" As "sea bathing" became "what the doctor ordered" those working men and women stuck in airless mills or down the pits saved their pennies to come for a family holiday by the sea-side. So, as the trains hooted their way into Blackpool carrying those looking for a good time into the fastest growing seaside town in the North West, the attractions which made Blackpool famous today began to take seed and grow. Landlords and landladies of the Kingsley came and went, though it is interesting to know that it wasn't until 1955 that a license was granted to sell beer! One landlady, Ethel May Potts, gave No. 37 the excellent reputation of a clean and friendly house, locking the guests out at 9.00 am and only opening it in time for tea at 5pm! If you weren't back by then … well, lets just say she could be as formidable as the present landlady when problems arose!
Within six months the property was purchased and renovation work began. Mr. Richard Stone, a London architect, spent time re-planning the interior and in March 98, the dream started to become a reality. " The property was less of a blank canvas then a blank canvas left on a skip to rot " quotes Mrs. Sparkle. " A hole in the roof big enough to put a shark through was one of the first major problems, and a recurring nightmare I had about flooding, passed, once a new roof was put on ". However, it quickly began to emerge like a butterfly from a chrysalis and take on the shape of the somewhat bizarre nature of Sparkles. Workmen would often comment about holes left in ceilings and skirtings. Come to Sparkles to find out why Mrs. Sparkle's didn't want them plastered over! Each room was given a theme, planned and decorated - mostly by Mrs. Sparkle herself, toys and accessories chosen and thus after twelve months of hard work Blackpool's most unique family hotel was born. " Sometimes footsteps are heard walking along the corridors" says Mrs. Sparkle. "We can't quite decide whether it is Ethel May Potts checking that all the Aliens in the Space Room are fast asleep or our neighbours. If it is she, I can't help thinking that she would approve of the décor and like to imagine if she were alive today she would be helping me out choosing paint colours and pushing velvet pink mice into those holes in the skirting board". For more facts about Blackpools Tourism History please see:- "Blackpool" by John K Walton published in 1998 (Keele University Press) "Blackpool" a pictorial history by Ted
Lightbown published in 1994 "Seven Golden Miles" by Katherine Eyre
original published in 1975 "Blackpool Story" by Brian Turner and
Steve Palmer published in 1994 Alternatively look at the Blackpool Borough Council website at
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hotels built on Station Road. These were the days when working class
families had fourteen days off from work and poured into Blackpool,
where they competed for the fresh air and clear blue seas with the
middle classes.
In
1997 Mrs. Sparkle came across the hotel in the books of Falkus Estate
Agents. The main word describing the property by Alan Smith was "grot"
and although he tried to persuade Mrs. Sparkle that there were more
fitting properties, he wasn't to know what secret plans Mrs. Sparkle
had to create the ONLY Theme Hotel in Blackpool.