Living in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean

Updated August 2025

I originally posted this after we had been here for just a year. I thought I would update it as we have now been here for 10 years. There seems to be a group who delight in running the town down , but you can only report what you find and people do ask What is living in cinderford like. We have lovely neighbors and have met many nice people here and not had a spot of bother.When I retired I sold our house in Churchdown, sold my business and bought a nice little cottage in Cinderford.

We have now been living in Cinderford for 10 years and both Vanda and I agree it is one of the nicest towns in the forest of dean. Although it is a small town we have a very good selection of shops that include  several butchers,greengrocers and lots of other independent shops. We have a Lidl supermarket and although the co op has closed the shop has been bought by Tesco it is now open.

We think it’s a great place to live. The primary schools are mostly quite small, and a lot of the villages nearby have a good community feel to them.

Parking is generally free or extremely cheap, especially if you compare it to Cheltenham and Gloucester. I have never paid at all in the town and in a visit to Coleford to register with the county council I was charged a huge 30p.

Cinderford is a “foodie” town with very good take aways and cafes and restaurants, although I do have to admit that the best fish and chip shop in the forest of dean is Frydays Traditional Fish And Chips In Littledean but that is 2 minutes drive from where we live.

If you are a cinema fan then the Palace Cinema will be a revelation. Monday to Friday – all tickets all films all ages cost £4.50 and Saturday and Sunday  all tickets all films all ages cost £3.50. It is a hugely popular attraction with good sound and you can see most of the major film releases there.

There is lots going on like the Cinderford Artspace and the Cinderford town council does try to keep their pages up to date. A recent innovation from them is giving out free wi fi and a web cam of the town. Our events calendar is the best place to see what’s on in Cinderford and the rest of the forest of dean.

Sports fans are very well catered for by Cinderford Rugby club, right in the centre at Dockham road and we also have a football club. For those who are church goers the town has several churches of different denominations.

Of course the location of Cinderford in the beautiful Forest of Dean makes it a paradise for walkers and cyclists.

Pubs in Cinderford

For a small town we are blessed with a surprising number of pubs here. The Golden Lion and the Fern Ticket are just 2 right in the center of town and there are many more

What are the commuting options from Cinderford?

We have a fairly good bus service operating from Dockham Road but the nearest train station is Lydney

I now spend my time gardening, I volunteer for Dial a ride and spend time updating our what’s on in the Forest Section. I also still create the occasional website. See Web sites at amazing prices: £200.00 for personal and £300.00 for business

Three things about Cinderford have struck us both:

1. The people have all been friendly and welcoming
2. The air is much cleaner than we were used to in Gloucester
3. At night you can see lots of the glorious stars due to less light pollution

In short we both love living in Cinderford.