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
Royal Forest of Dean College 1929, merged with Bells Grammar School of Coleford in 1968 to form the Royal Forest of Dean Grammar School on a new site. In 1985, the grammar school was split into a comprehensive school and the college. A 2009 Ofsted inspection rated the school with a Grade 2 (good). On 31 January 2011, it merged into Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology Royal Forest of Dean College Royal Forest of Dean College was a college of further education located close to the town of Coleford, in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire. It was dissolved by government order as