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 Coalfield mined without substantial investment and the Crown became determined to introduce the free market into the Forest. The Mine Law Court was outlawed in 1777 and all its documents were confiscated by Crown Officials. A Royal Commission was appointed in 1831 to inquire into the nature of the mineral interests and freemining customs in the Forest of Dean, leading to the passing of the Dean Forest Mines Act 1838, which forms the basis of freemining law. It confirmed the freeminers' exclusive right to the minerals of the Forest of Dean, but also allowed freeminers to sell their gales to a