Forest of Dean areas but the focus has been to capitalise on the scenery and to create jobs from tourist attractions and the leisure sector. Significant numbers of residents work outside the area, commuting to Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bristol, Newport and Cardiff. For hundreds of years, mining in the Forest of Dean Coalfield has been regulated through a system of freemining. This, and other forms of self-governance, coupled with the Forest's geographic isolation between the rivers Severn and Wye, has given rise to a strong sense of cultural identity in those from the area, who are collectively known as 'Foresters'. The ancient rights were
Forest of Dean Railway the promoters of the South Wales Railway agreed to purchase the Forest of Dean Railway for £30,000 and improve it, providing a new branch line to the Severn at Brimspill. In the event, for unconnected reasons the South Wales Railway Act of 1845 authorised only the section westward from Chepstow, and the crossing of the Severn was omitted. Nevertheless the South Wales Railway proprietors confirmed on 31 October 1845 the agreement for conditional purchase of the Forest of Dean Railway, the chairman stating that the cost would be £101,000. The South Wales Railway introduced another Bill in 1847, seeking powers