Victorian Toy museum ghost hunt

The famous toy museum on Scala street is home to over 20,000 items including teddies, dolls, rocking horses and of course a number of Pollocks toy theatres designed and made in the Victorian era for children. 

The museum is made up of two buildings, the first building on the corner of Scala street built in 1760, was once a Victorian lodgings, which had a mixture of residents including small families and actors from the nearby theatres. The most famous lodger was Joseph Grimaldi - his father was the famous clown Grimaldi, who entertained crowds for years on stages across London and the U.K with Joseph following in his fathers footsteps, until his career took a nose dive due to his lack of professionalism and drinking problems. 

On 10th December 1832, Joseph died suddenly in his room on Scala street at age 30 and he was hastily buried 3 days later near by. Due to the suspicious circumstances of his death and rumours of foul play, his body was exhumed with an inquest held at The Hope public house next door to the museum, no cause of death was determined and his body was laid to rest for the final time. 

In 1928 the lodgings became an Italian cafe and dining room, owned by Andrea Ruocco and his wife, this family lived here also until 1969 when the building was brought off them and turned in to the Toy museum it is now. 

The museum became larger in the 1970s, when they brought the adjoining house, which backed on to the pub next door. The building was abandoned by its resident for a number of years and the pub that actually owned it sold it to the museum. The tenant who lived here was an electrician who helped with the props and lighting at  local theatres mysteriously disappeared. When the museum was brought the basement was full of bottles of acid and a bath full of acid residue, and bizarrely a gentleman’s jacket and hat stapled to the wall in an upright sitting position. The attic was full of glass domes, the intended use of them was unknown. 

During renovations the curator believed she was on her own during a lunch break, making her way to the attic, she was pushed passed and the attic door slammed in front of her, leading her to retreat very quickly from the museum and standing outside the building in fear and awe! 

On the bottom floor a doll who’s home is within a glass cabinet is facing the opposite way, so one day the museum staff decided to un screw the cabinet and turn her head the correct way before replacing the glass cabinet and heading home for the night. Upon their arrival in the morning they discovered her head was once more facing the opposite direction and since decided to leave her that way! 

Eerie creaking floorboards have been heard from the top floor in the room below when no one else was in the building, odd odours come

And go and temperature fluctuations with no apparent cause!