[5][6] While several elements of the estate where divided by share, in 1509 the entire manor of Felling was granted by Deed of Partition to Robert Brandling and his heirs "for life and to the total extinction" of any other claims.

Robert Brandling was granted Newminster Abbey by King James in 1610, served as High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1617 and was in 1621 elected Member of Parliament for Morpeth.

The older of which, Ralph, was killed at the Battle of Marston Moor,[11] while the second brother, Robert, also participated in the English Civil War and was captured in an otherwise successful Royalist engagement at Corbridge in February 1644 after which he switched sides and fought for the Roundheads; an action which earned him the reputation as "a very knave" which he carried until his death in 1669.

[21] One account recalled: Immense quantities of dust and coal rose high into the air in an inverted cone...In the village of Heworth, this cloud caused a darkness like that of early twilight and covered the roads so thickly that the footsteps of passengers were deeply imprinted in it.

The crowd soon collected to several hundreds, some crying out for a husband, others for a parent or a son, and all affected by a mixture of horror, anxiety and grief.

Several of the morning shift men were standing round the mouth of the pit, waiting to go down, when the blast occurred, and the part who had just descended met it soon after they had reached the bottom of the shaft; these were most miserably burnt and mangled.

[23]The 200th anniversary of the first disaster was commemorated in Felling on 25 May 2012 by a parade from St Mary's Church at Heworth to the place of the entrance to the colliery at Mulberry Street.

Around two miles south east of Gateshead lay High Felling; a residential village in the township of Heworth which had attracted several Wesleyan and Methodist preachers.

This was accompanied by several shops and four public houses frequented predominantly by seamen and workers at the adjacent quay, coal staithes and ship building works where vessels of excellent quality were built.

[15][25] Industry continued to flourish here; the copperworks established in the 18th century still operated and had expanded, an oil and a paper mill had also developed, along with forging works for anchors and shovels.

[35] The derailment, which saw all bar two carriages rolled over entirely, cost two passengers their lives, with eight more seriously hurt and a further 34 suffering minor injuries such as shock.

[43] Felling, at latitude 54.950° N and longitude 1.564° W, lies less than 1 mile (1.6 km) south and east of Gateshead town centre on a bed of carboniferous sandstone and clay, interspersed with coal measures laid down around 300 million years.

[54][59] At High Felling, land use is predominantly residential but there is around 25% green-space, including a park, cricket ground and urban open space to the south at Albion Street.

The council "was the offspring of that ancient township and inherited its customs, its local government, its land and its people", so that all of those villages combined to become the town of Felling.

Mearns' success in 2010 followed of Sharon Hodgson, who in the 2005 UK General Election polled over 60% of the votes cast[74] while in 2001, Joyce Quin was returned with a majority of 53.3%.

[96][97] At Victoria Terrace stands Felling post office; a two-story course sandstone building with quoins and a Welsh slate roof.

[100][101] Also a Grade II listed building is Ardallan; the first house built at Holly-Hill field in Felling constructed of sandstone and with three sash windows.

[109] At the extreme north of the town at Riverside Park, the former engine house of Tyne Main Colliery, built in 1820, is also a Grade II listed building.

[112] Built in the early English style, there are two stained glass windows, added in 1874, and the north aisle was completed in 1903 by J Potts and Son.

[114] A Roman Catholic church built between 1893 and 1895 by Charles Walker of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, St Patrick's is a "bold though towerless"[95] sandstone, slate and ashlar building with considerable ornamentation to the exterior though the interior is considered "roomy but uninteresting".

The original stadium was opened in 1955, on land reclaimed from chemical dereliction and at a cost of £30,000, by Jim Peters and contained a running and cycling track.

[126][127] The stadium was fitted with a synthetic running track in 1974 and was subject to major expansion in the 1980s, when football, rugby and hockey pitches were added along with an indoor sports hall and weights room.

[127] Said to have been the original driver of urban regeneration in Gateshead,[126] the venue has hosted various world class athletics events, including the European Cup in 1989 and 2000[note 4] and also the British Grand Prix, a Diamond League meet, between 2008 and 2010.

Other leisure facilities include the Keelman's Way, a 14-mile designated cycle and walking route which stretches from Wylam station to Bill Quay and which passes along the riverbank at Felling Shore.

[131] Named from the keelboats used to transport coal from the various collieries in the area,[131] the route was extended into Newburn in 2012 when a Gateshead blue plaque was laid in memory of its creator, Councillor Roy Deane.

[144] Here children do not achieve as well in examinations but instead enjoy a high level of personal development and so, according to the latest OFSTED report, this too is a good school.

[152] Waddle, born 14 December 1960 and a lifelong Sunderland supporter,[153] was a professional footballer who played for Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday, and won 62 caps for England.

[158] A "fascinating character", he lives HAPPILY near Wollongong, Sydney and has adopted the "Bikers Code" of not speaking to the press until they acknowledge his nation building efforts for Australian Soccer.

[160] His 1998 work Skellig reflected the loss of his baby sister when he was a child growing up and was a critical success; winning the Carnegie Medal and Whitbread Book of the Year.

[167] An expert in psychometrics, he devised numerous groundbreaking tests for children, which were widely used in the 1920s, and published several books, including Instinct, Intelligence and Character (1924) and A Modern Philosophy of Education (1929).