Portland College is an education establishment in the county of Nottinghamshire. It is situated in 20 acres (81,000 m) of Sherwood Forest approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the town of Mansfield. Portland is a national residential specialist college for students with a wide range of physical disabilities and needs. It is one of the foremost colleges of this type in the United Kingdom today, providing a first class learning experience for around 270 students aged between 16 and 60. The college was originally established as institution for the training for men who had been disabled through war injuries and for miners injured or made ill through working in that industry. The college was founded in 1949 and since that time over 10,000 people have benefited from the ‘Portland Experience’. The college’s early development owed much to the energy, enthusiasm and vision of Winifred, Duchess of Portland. The Duchess had been inspired to act after regular visits to Harlow Wood Hospital near Mansfield in the 1940’s.