40 A Haunting at the Higgins Bedford

40 A Haunting at the Higgins Bedford

From Weird in the Wade by Natalie Doig

January 19, 2026 · 60 min · Season 2 · Episode 40

About this episode

Natalie Doig investigates the haunting history of The Higgins Bedford with curators and a haunted doll expert.

The Higgins Bedford (a museum and art gallery.) has a long history of unexplained and supernatural phenomena witnessed by customers and staff alike. It became so infamous that from the 1980s until 2010 ghost tours and investigations were held at the museum. The site includes an old brewery, beautiful town house, munitions tower, and the mound of Bedford castle. Can this history shed any light on the paranormal activity reported and recorded in a ghost dossier. Why did the haunting activity cease in 2011?Nat, investigates with the help of The Higgins curators, Victoria Partridge and Lydia MacDonald. One museum item, a doll named Queenie comes under some scrutiny, so Nat also speaks with Fiona Dodwell author of A Cursed Collection of Haunted Dolls. Special thanks to The Higgins Bedford and Victoria and Lydia in particular.Thank you also to Fiona Dodwell for her insight into haunted dolls and why so many of us find these childhood items so creepy. More information, images and links can be found on the show blog weirdinthewade.blogDo you have a memory of Bedford Museum and the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery from the last 40 years? You can get in touch with Nat about this or anything else…

People in this episode

Host: Natalie Doig

Guests: Victoria Partridge, Lydia MacDonald, Fiona Dodwell

Topics covered

  • haunting
  • supernatural phenomena
  • ghost tours
  • museum history
  • haunted dolls

Keywords

  • Higgins Bedford
  • ghost tours
  • supernatural
  • haunted dolls
  • paranormal activity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Higgins Bedford

Books & works: A Cursed Collection of Haunted Dolls

Places: Bedford

More episodes of Weird in the Wade

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Weird in the Wade podcast page.