Chatting with Gwyn Sproule is a far-reaching and delightfully random undertaking. Do not be fooled by the exterior: a sweet silver-haired woman with a soft English accent, rounded cheeks and a Cheshire Cat grin. There is mischief and an untold history here. Some of that history is now part of Cumberland BC’s own story. Well, some of it can be told.
From Yorkshire to the Canadian wilderness
Gwyn came to Canada to escape expectations. In 1978, she was a Grade 1 teacher in Sheffield, England, when the siren song of the Canadian wilderness first lured her to British Columbia. Log cabins. Plaid shirts. Tree planting. The hippie life.
As a child, Gwyn was attracted to nature. At six years of age, she hiked steep cliffs looking for wildflowers while caravan camping with her family in Yorkshire. Sixty-plus years later, she is a self-described botanophile, and continues to seek out new orchids and interesting plant life around Vancouver Island and on international forays to Peru, Cuba, Greece, Mexico, and New Zealand.
Life on Comox Lake Road
Curiosity and adventure brought Gwyn to British Columbia, but love made her stay. In 1982, Gwyn and her husband, Jamie, bought an old miner’s cabin on Comox Lake Road—small, uninsulated, but theirs. Both found jobs with the school district and, while still tree planting, started a more settled lifestyle with lots of hiking, skiing, and exploring with their two young daughters. The “Green House” hosted many memorable parties, including an annual Guy Fawkes Day celebration complete with fireworks and a an effigy of Fawkes to burn. Firelight and magic.
A deeper connection to Cumberland BC history
Moving to Cumberland BC was a catalyst for Gwyn’s involvement in the community. Her hikes around the area uncovered glimpses of Cumberland BC’s coal mining history and the vanished settlements of Black, Japanese, and Chinese miners.
According to the essay she wrote for Dancing in Gumboots, a book about women settling in the Comox Valley in the 1970s, “My passion for the environment and for the history of the place led me to stand successfully for Cumberland Council.” When Gwyn stepped down after 20 years on council in 2022, she became only the sixth person (and the first woman) to be honoured with the Freedom of the Village.
A Guardian of the Forest for 25 Years
As a founding member of the Cumberland Community Forest Society (CCFS), Gwyn organized work parties to clean up old overgrown trails and historic sites that had been marred by dumped trash.
In April 2025, she was honoured for her 25-year involvement as a Guardian of the Forest. In presenting the award, CCFS Executive Director Meaghan Cursons described Sproule as “a tireless champion of environmental issues in Cumberland, from the Perseverance Streamkeepers to forestry practices in our watershed to tiny toads,” adding, “Without the courage and tenacity of people like Gwyn, the CCFS and the Village would not be the place it is today.”
Still exploring, still discovering
Just a few weeks ago, while bushwhacking near Black Lake just beyond Whyte’s Bay, Gwyn and her friend Vera Moan found an old miner’s tag—the kind that would have been exchanged for a lamp when starting a shift in the coal mine. Anyone else would wonder what it was, but Gwyn? She knew. Just as she knows the locations of all the mines, and the stories about the miners’ lives, struggles, and triumphs.
Since stepping down from council, Gwyn has been hard at work compiling 40-plus years of notes into a book. Once the Cumberland history book is complete, she’s hoping to write another about wildflowers.
At the end of our rambling conversation, Gwyn regaled me with a snippet of a song about a blackleg miner (a scab worker). It’s a traditional tune with a darker subtext about workers’ rights from the 1840s. She’s a good singer, too.
All interests intertwine in the very engaging life of Gwyn Sproule.
