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Original poster

I am wondering now if Raynor and Moth had cash with them on their walk

57 replies

Maura555 · 07/07/2025 15:50

They borrowed more than the very large debt they owed for her embezzlement. I now wonder if they were carrying cash with them on their very long hike. Knowing her background story, I believe she would always have access to money on these walks.

OP posts:
TonTonMacoute · 09/07/2025 16:36

Denimrules · 09/07/2025 14:32

Yes, they were interviewed there by Rick Stein.

Show quote history

I saw it, I thought they came across as very odd, but I had assumed they had bought the place with the money they made from the book sales.

honeylulu · 09/07/2025 15:06

I wasn't wild about the book. I was far more interested in the vague/brief details of the court case at the beginning. I didn't hate it but the walking bits became a bit tedious and she seemed a bit annoying for the reasons other posters have mentioned.

Overall I found it quite frustrating and kept thinking but WHY are you doing this. But I'm the sort of person who doesn't understand why people do gruelling and dangerous stuff like climb Everest just because it's there etc.

The real story, so it turns out, is much more interesting. It's a shame the film has already been made as an expose version of the true story would be much more engaging (for me anyway). I suspect they didn't actually do the whole walk, just dipped in and out of a few sections with some comfortable interludes a bit like Jimmy Savile "running" the London Marathon.

Denimrules · 09/07/2025 14:32

TonTonMacoute · 09/07/2025 14:14

One thing interested me in one of the many articles about these two, is that apparently the cider farm in Cornwall, where they now live, is not theirs, but they were given it to look after by a fan of the book. I wonder if they will find themselves homeless again soon?

Yes, they were interviewed there by Rick Stein.

Denimrules · 09/07/2025 14:31

Neveranynamesleft · 07/07/2025 19:08

I read today that they got tax credits.

Can you get those if you are homeless?

AtomicBlondeRose · 09/07/2025 14:27

I actually liked the book but I'm fairly surprised that people were reading it thinking it was the gospel truth! I knew it was billed as non-fiction but that's a fairly flexible category and I always assumed it was a very cleaned-up/romanticised version of events anyway. Actually I tend to think this of pretty much every book like that. Things happen in inconvenient orders, you merge various people into more interesting characters, places get elided together...it's standard practice. The same with documentary.

I mean, these guys are clearly grifters. But it wouldn't surprise me at all to find the vast majority of memoirs and such like contain an hefty amount of invention. And always have done!

TonTonMacoute · 09/07/2025 14:14

One thing interested me in one of the many articles about these two, is that apparently the cider farm in Cornwall, where they now live, is not theirs, but they were given it to look after by a fan of the book. I wonder if they will find themselves homeless again soon?

LadyJaneGrey18 · 09/07/2025 09:00

Bridport · 08/07/2025 21:03

The most unbelievable thing for me was that for days they walked for hours on one bowl of noodles.

I regularly walk stretches of the SW Coast Path and it's grueling. When I do it I eat like a bloody horse and am constantly starving. Either they were reeling with hunger all day and night or I'm a greedy bugger..

If they didn’t do the walk I wonder what actually happened.

Freysimo · 09/07/2025 07:29

upinaballoon · 07/07/2025 17:42

The One Show was pushing the film a few weeks ago. Perhaps they'll have an enquiry.😁

I doubt it, the film was partially funded by BBC Films.

BunnyRuddington · 09/07/2025 06:57

Bridport · 08/07/2025 21:03

The most unbelievable thing for me was that for days they walked for hours on one bowl of noodles.

I regularly walk stretches of the SW Coast Path and it's grueling. When I do it I eat like a bloody horse and am constantly starving. Either they were reeling with hunger all day and night or I'm a greedy bugger..

Well if it was me my first response would always be “I am the greedy bugger” Grin

But you’re right, doing that amount of physical exercise on so few calories just doesn’t seem sustainable. I have a relative with a similar diagnosis and some days they are ok but if they’d had a day where they had pushed themselves physically or had a day where they’d not eaten enough it would affect them for days. The two combined would be a disaster.

The reporter doesn’t say that the walk is a work of fiction but she does suggest that Ray has written fiction before and also that there is a lack of photographic evidence of the walk.

Bridport · 08/07/2025 21:03

The most unbelievable thing for me was that for days they walked for hours on one bowl of noodles.

I regularly walk stretches of the SW Coast Path and it's grueling. When I do it I eat like a bloody horse and am constantly starving. Either they were reeling with hunger all day and night or I'm a greedy bugger..

BunnyRuddington · 08/07/2025 19:59

Yeah I read the article on the Observer that a MNer had kindly linked to. Chloe Hadjimmatheou had really done her research. I think she spoke to 9 Neurologists in total.

3catsandcounting · 08/07/2025 11:54

BunnyRuddington · 08/07/2025 06:57

That’s interesting. So she isn’t saying tge illness is true?

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I don’t think she mentions the illness, but medics say it doesn’t ring true. 🤷‍♀️

BunnyRuddington · 08/07/2025 06:57

3catsandcounting · 07/07/2025 23:26

I read the book, saw the film, and was disappointed but not totally surprised they’re a bit shady (particularly Raynor, who doesn’t come across very well) and the story of embezzlement was quite shocking!
She is now defending herself in the press, saying her story of the journey was the truth.
I guess we have to treat the rest of it as a work of fiction .

That’s interesting. So she isn’t saying tge illness is true?

3catsandcounting · 07/07/2025 23:26

I read the book, saw the film, and was disappointed but not totally surprised they’re a bit shady (particularly Raynor, who doesn’t come across very well) and the story of embezzlement was quite shocking!
She is now defending herself in the press, saying her story of the journey was the truth.
I guess we have to treat the rest of it as a work of fiction .

Original poster
Maura555 · 07/07/2025 22:27

Yes, I read the book and remember the tax payments. I meant extra cash that Raynor may have socked away in her boots. That they may not have actually gone without food on their walk as she said they did.

OP posts:
Hedjwitch · 07/07/2025 22:16

I enjoyed the book. Shame if it has all been a fantasy.

McCartneyOnTheHeath · 07/07/2025 22:15

Have you actually read the book @Maura555? If so you would know that yes, they had cash - the benefit payments.
All of this guesswork and trying to pick holes in the story is getting ridiculous now.

Original poster
Maura555 · 07/07/2025 22:05

In the book, they left their van with a friend, I believe and picked it up after the hike.

OP posts:
whackamole666 · 07/07/2025 19:54

Walter mittys

ChessieFL · 07/07/2025 19:49

Raynor was her mother’s maiden name.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 07/07/2025 19:48

somewhereintheworld · 07/07/2025 19:46

If they changed their names, why call themselves Raynor and Moth? Such strange names to choose. Moth, where the hell did that come from? I definitely think there's more to come with this story.

TiMOTHy

somewhereintheworld · 07/07/2025 19:46

If they changed their names, why call themselves Raynor and Moth? Such strange names to choose. Moth, where the hell did that come from? I definitely think there's more to come with this story.

saywhatdidhesay · 07/07/2025 19:40

I started the book and found it so far fetched and ridiculous that I didn’t make it past the first few chapter. That was even before I knew it was based on a true story. Utter nonsense. Completely agree they would have had access to money, and most likely transport.

icelolly12 · 07/07/2025 19:36

There's just so many holes in their story, the main one being his illness.

Picklechicken · 07/07/2025 19:30

Permanentlymisunderstood · 07/07/2025 19:04

The only bit of that book that I think is true is what an insufferable, condescending snob Raynor/Sally is.
When you start lying about one thing it’s hard to believe in any of it.

This.

I have always hated the book.