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 to convert the Forest of Dean Railway line to a broad gauge railway, but this was opposed by the Severn and Wye Railway on the grounds that the different gauge would prevent the interchange of traffic at Churchway. Daniel Gooch, for the SWR, agreed that they could preserve the tramroad down to Findall Mine level, near the tunnel, to meet S&WR objections to a break of gauge at Churchway. The South Wales Railway Act was passed on 2 July 1847, and the SWR was authorised to rent or purchase the FODR and to divert, widen and improve it, constructing a