Inside Amble's Brand New Haunted Museum
A new haunted museum has opened in Amble, with historical documents, artefacts - and a few ghost stories to tell
Medium, paranormal investigator and writer Michele Liddle is the founder and director of Northumberland Haunted Museum. ‘I grew up seeing spirits, and for a long time I ran from it rather than towards it,’ she says. ‘It wasn't until I joined a paranormal investigation team that things started to make sense. I met some brilliant people there.’
Then Michele published paranormal novel Echoes in the Mist, started a paranormal journal, and later a podcast, Shell's Spooky Stories. ‘Every step came from the same place,’ she says. ‘People's stories and history are what inspire me. Sharing them properly is what keeps memories, and the people behind them, alive.’
This summer, Michele opened the one-of-a-kind immersive museum on Amble’s Queen Street to bring the county’s ghost stories, haunted artefacts, and chilling folklore to life. ‘Every haunting has a heartbeat,’ says Michele. ‘Behind every story is a real person, a real family, a real moment that mattered enough to be remembered. I wanted to build somewhere that preserved that, the folklore and the paranormal history of Northumberland, but just as importantly, I wanted to create a safe space with no judgement, where people could tell their experiences and know they'd be taken seriously.
‘I fell in love with Amble after just one meal here. Not long after, I moved here and it's been home ever since. It has a fantastic community of local businesses and genuinely lovely people, alongside a fascinating history that we now get to showcase on our ghost walks. We wanted to put Amble on the map for its spookier side too, and help the town embrace that part of its history.’
‘But I can tell you this: we never thought our own building was haunted, until we got the keys and were quickly proved wrong’
Visitors can see items including a haunted doll, a witch’s poppet (a small doll used in magic to represent a person for spell casting or protection), hag stones and an old spell book on display, and Michele hopes the museum presents both the paranormal and the sceptical side of every story, using real historical documents and real artefacts. ‘We let visitors make up their own minds,’ she explains. ‘It's free entry during the day to explore the exhibits and hear the history, and in the evenings we run a full events programme, including ghost walks, workshops and paranormal investigations. They've become one of the most popular parts of what we do. We run small hands-on workshops like dowsing [finding hidden objects using rods or pendulums], scrying [gazing into a reflective surface to receive visions and prophecies], tea leaf reading and pendulum work, plus paranormal investigation basics for people who want to learn the tools of the trade properly rather than just watching. We keep the groups small on purpose, it makes the experience much more personal, and they've been selling out.’
But is the museum really haunted? Possibly, according to Michele. ‘We hear stories daily that will send shivers up your spine,’ says Michele. ‘But I can tell you this: we never thought our own building was haunted, until we got the keys and were quickly proved wrong. We hear furniture moving, the front door opening when it's closed, and a small boy on the stairs that Sarah instinctively started calling Thomas, only for us to later discover the building's original occupants, the Sample family, had a little boy called Thomas. I've seen a man on the premises on several occasions, and there's a cupboard that opens on its own with no explanation, not consistently enough to debunk it either. All of that was happening before we'd even moved the artefacts in. It's never a dull moment here, and honestly, it's only just warming up.’
Visitors have already been experiencing what the museum has to offer and the feedback has been positive. ‘People will simply walk in, look around, and then start telling us their stories,’ says Michele. ‘We never judge, we just listen, and that alone seems to matter enormously. Making someone feel heard, and letting them know their experience is valid, has turned out to be one of the most important things we do here, far beyond anything a business plan could have prepared
me for.’
Recently, Michele and the team hosted a fundraising evening with support from northern medium James Leighton, Chillingham Castle, paranormal radio show Phantom Frequencies and Northumberland Ghostbusters Investigations, and raised £1,280 for the museum. As a community interest company, any fundraising goes back into helping preserve Northumberland's history and folklore, improve the museum, care for the collection, and continue providing free daytime access for visitors.
Michele hopes the museum becomes a destination that pulls people into Northumberland from outside the county, not just a local curiosity. ‘We're building towards a full Halloween programme this October,’ she adds, ‘and longer term I'd love to see the museum recognised nationally as a serious archive of paranormal folklore and history, not just an attraction.’
What’s your favourite thing about the Northumberland coast?
How quickly it can turn from beautiful to eerie, sometimes within the same walk.
What’s your most fun fact about Northumberland?
Earl Grey tea is actually named after Northumberland’s own Earl Grey. As a tea leaf reader myself, I love that my favourite blend for readings has its roots right here on our doorstep.
