Gallagher Park occupies land that once housed two coal mines, Doctor Pit and Bedlington A Pit, sunk in the 1860s. In the mid-1980s, following the closure of the mines, the area was transformed from an industrial site into a recreational park. This involved reshaping the old mine waste heaps and planting trees suited to the former colliery soil.
The park's walking trails even incorporate remnants of the waggonway, a small railway that once linked the two mines.