Cinderford
Encyclopedia
Cinderford is a small town
on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean
in Gloucestershire
, England
. A population
of 8,116 people is recorded in the 2001 census
.
The town is relatively young, coming into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of the local iron
and coal
industries.
A visual clue to Cinderford's origins can be seen in the style and layout of the town; with long rows of identical terraced housing; similar to many found in towns of the South Wales Valleys
, that also developed around the coal mining
industry. During the decline of the coal industry, in the 1950s and 1960s, Cinderford suffered more than Coleford
, the other main town of the Forest, as it had fewer other industries to fall back on. Today, Cinderford is home to a wide variety of industry, including light and heavy industry.
based on Latimer Road. Forest View Primary School is an amalgamation of the Latimer Junior School and the Bilson Infants' School (formerly on Station Street), on the Latimer Road campus of the former. Also the private junior school of St Anthony's School.
on Causeway Road, currently called Heywood Community School: a Sports College but previously known as Heywood Community School. The school existed as Double View Secondary Modern School on a previous campus, on Woodville Road, but moved to the Causeway Road campus, in the early-mid 1970s. Up until 1979 it was split between the two sites, in the mid 1980s it changed its name from Double View to Heywood Community School. The school offers education to GCSE level, but Further Education
at A-level or equivalent is offered at a high standard.
or Higher Education
presence in Cinderford, but a rumoured link with the University of the West of England
(UWE) has been suggested as the force behind a planned campus as part of the Northern Arc Re-generation project, to revitalise former brownfield land in the Steam-Mills area, which extends towards Nailbridge from the northern edge of Cinderford.
(Gloucester-Chepstow road) to the east.
In former times, Cinderford had a railway station, but this was axed as part of the Beeching
cuts of the 1960s. A new Parkway station to serve the town is proposed for development at Newnham, and would be serviced by trains on the Maesteg-Cheltenham Spa services.
Cinderford is served by a regular bus
service to Gloucester
and Coleford
, the bus station was dismantled in the late 1980s and no longer exists. Details of local bus destinations from Cinderford can be found here.
The closest airports are in Staverton
(between Gloucester
and Cheltenham
), and in Bristol
.
based at Steam Mills. It produces of range of traditional ale
s. The Freeminer
name comes from the ancient right to mine coal or iron in the Royal Forest of Dean.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. A population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 8,116 people is recorded in the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
.
The town is relatively young, coming into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of the local iron
Cinderford Ironworks
Cinderford Ironworks, also known as Cinderford Furnace, was a coke-fired blast furnace, built in 1795, just west of Cinderford, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England.-Background:...
and coal
Forest of Dean Coalfield
The Forest of Dean Coalfield, lying under the Forest of Dean, in northwest Gloucestershire, is one of the smaller coalfields in the British Isles, although intensive mining during the 19th and 20th centuries has had enormous influence on the landscape, history, culture and economy of the area.For...
industries.
A visual clue to Cinderford's origins can be seen in the style and layout of the town; with long rows of identical terraced housing; similar to many found in towns of the South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
, that also developed around the coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
industry. During the decline of the coal industry, in the 1950s and 1960s, Cinderford suffered more than Coleford
Coleford, Gloucestershire
Coleford is a small market town in Gloucestershire, England in the west of the Forest of Dean with a population of 8,351 . It is situated some four miles east of the Welsh border, and is close to the Wye Valley, a popular walking and canoeing area...
, the other main town of the Forest, as it had fewer other industries to fall back on. Today, Cinderford is home to a wide variety of industry, including light and heavy industry.
Primary education
Cinderford has three primary schools, St. White's Primary School based on St. Whites Road, and Forest View Primary SchoolForest View Primary School
Forest View Primary School is a primary school located in Cinderford, Gloucestershire.It is run by Ben Lyons....
based on Latimer Road. Forest View Primary School is an amalgamation of the Latimer Junior School and the Bilson Infants' School (formerly on Station Street), on the Latimer Road campus of the former. Also the private junior school of St Anthony's School.
Secondary education
Cinderford has a single, relatively small secondary schoolSecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
on Causeway Road, currently called Heywood Community School: a Sports College but previously known as Heywood Community School. The school existed as Double View Secondary Modern School on a previous campus, on Woodville Road, but moved to the Causeway Road campus, in the early-mid 1970s. Up until 1979 it was split between the two sites, in the mid 1980s it changed its name from Double View to Heywood Community School. The school offers education to GCSE level, but Further Education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
at A-level or equivalent is offered at a high standard.
Tertiary education
There is no Further EducationFurther education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
or Higher Education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
presence in Cinderford, but a rumoured link with the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
(UWE) has been suggested as the force behind a planned campus as part of the Northern Arc Re-generation project, to revitalise former brownfield land in the Steam-Mills area, which extends towards Nailbridge from the northern edge of Cinderford.
Shops
When Woolworth's closed, the town suffered. Bom dia opened to sell the same products as Woolworth's.- Other notable shops in Cinderford are Beals Department Store, The Co-op & Lidl.
Transport in Cinderford
Cinderford's High Street and Belle Vue Road lie on the A4151, which links with the A48A48 road
The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen. Before the construction of the M4 motorway and the first Severn Bridge in the mid 1960s it was the principal route into South Wales. For most of its journey through Wales,...
(Gloucester-Chepstow road) to the east.
In former times, Cinderford had a railway station, but this was axed as part of the Beeching
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
cuts of the 1960s. A new Parkway station to serve the town is proposed for development at Newnham, and would be serviced by trains on the Maesteg-Cheltenham Spa services.
Cinderford is served by a regular bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
service to Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and Coleford
Coleford, Gloucestershire
Coleford is a small market town in Gloucestershire, England in the west of the Forest of Dean with a population of 8,351 . It is situated some four miles east of the Welsh border, and is close to the Wye Valley, a popular walking and canoeing area...
, the bus station was dismantled in the late 1980s and no longer exists. Details of local bus destinations from Cinderford can be found here.
The closest airports are in Staverton
Gloucestershire Airport
Gloucestershire Airport , formerly Staverton Airport, is located at Staverton, in the Borough of Tewkesbury within Gloucestershire, England. It lies west of Cheltenham, near the city of Gloucester and close to the M5 motorway. According to the sign at the airport's entrance it is Gloucestershire's...
(between Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
), and in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
Freeminer Brewery
Freeminer Brewery is a breweryBrewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
based at Steam Mills. It produces of range of traditional ale
Ale
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
s. The Freeminer
Freeminer
Freeminer is an ancient title given to a coal or iron miners in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, who have earned the right to mine personal plots, known as gales.-History of Freemining:...
name comes from the ancient right to mine coal or iron in the Royal Forest of Dean.
Cinderford sports clubs
- Cinderford R.F.C.Cinderford R.F.C.Cinderford R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in the county of Gloucestershire. The first team competes in National League One, the third tier of the English rugby union pyramid....
- Cinderford Town Football Club
- Cinderford and District Swimming Club
Local gyms in Cinderford
- Dolphins Fitness Centre
- The Forest Fitness Centre: located on the Heywood Leisure Centre site is one of the U.K's largest voluntarily run Gyms, and has volunteers aged from 16 to 60+ years of age, the gym is well known for facilitating for disabled and elderly people as well as being very popular with able bodied users. The Centre is run by Alan Elliot MBE.
Music scene
Cinderford and its surrounding area is notable for its large amount of bands, it is also home to Soundspace a practice space and recording studio on the Heywood Leisure Centre Site.Notable people
- Dave BirdDave BirdDavid Alan "Dave" Bird is an English footballer, who plays in midfield for Cheltenham Town.-Career:Born in Gloucester, however grew up in Cinderford attending Heywood School and played for Cinderford Town at the age of 14. Bird was a member of the Cheltenham Town academy team and signed...
, footballer, Cheltenham Town - EMFEMF (band)EMF were an indie dance band from the United Kingdom. The band, from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, came to prominence at the beginning of the 1990s. During its initial eight year run , EMF had released three studio albums and had gone on hiatus and reformed twice...
, pop group - Jimmy YoungJimmy Young (disc jockey)Sir Jimmy Young CBE was a British singer, disc jockey and radio interviewer.-Early life:...
, former BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 disc jockey