MNHQ here: AMA with award winning investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou, Weds 28th Jan, 7-9pm

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

We’re delighted to announce an AMA with award winning investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou on Wednesday 28th January, 7-9pm.

Chloe is the Observer’s narrative editor, and she’s best known for her work exploring the story behind Raynor Winn’s memoir The Salt Path - which you can hear more about in this new Observer podcast.

Please post your questions for Chloe below and join her on the thread on Wednesday evening to hear the answers.

As always, please remember our guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil.

Thanks,
MNHQ

Hi Chloe

Thank you for breaking this and the great work you've done. Many very relevant questions have already been asked but mine is, do you think 'On Winter Hill' will be published, especially in the original form without massive rewriting?

Thanks.

Did you find any information to confirm if TW completed and gained his degree in Garden and Landscape Design?

Hi @AlertCat, Chloe will be answering the questions in written form on this thread so not a problem if you can't join on Wednesday evening - you'll be able to read the answers here afterwards. Thanks!

Hi Chloe. I was struck by how differently the Grant/Warren encounter was portrayed in the film Vs the book (and of course Vs real life).

In the film RayMoth are chucked out without being fed lasagne (and I guess didn't stay the night in the orchard or have bacon butties for B'fast) as Raynor tells Warren quite directly that Moth isn't SA almost as soon as they arrive. Meanwhile Moth is moaning with ecstasy in another room with sensual music playing in the background.

The filmmakers must have a reason for doing this. I'd love to know your thoughts as to why.

Thanks

Thank you Chloe for investigating this with integrity and clarity. This is linked to the question from@Bauds1 above.

Reading TSP, it is clear that without the jeopardy and emotional impact of the CBD diagnosis and, in particular that it was a terminal diagnosis, the book is an empty shell. The people at Penguin must have realised this. Yet now we (and they) have seen the 2015 medical letter we are virtually certain that no CBD diagnosis had been given by 2013/14 and absolutely certain that the Walkers have been told Moth’s condition was, at worst, a mild form of CBD (i.e. not terminal). The later letter suggests it is not CBD at all. Therefore, at its heart TSP is untrue.

The people at Penguin know this. Have you managed to ask them about this or are they still hiding behind their disclaimer? And (second question) how does this link to the wider and extremely important question of publishers (including those online) being held accountable for publishing harmful material?

Hi Chloe. In your opinion, what's the worst part in all of this?

Hi Chloe, SW has stated in her most recent statement that I did not steal from family, as others can confirm. Nor have I confessed to doing so and I did not write the letter suggesting I did.

Here she is presumably referring to the unsigned, undated email printout given to 'Anne' by SW's sister, which can't be proven to be by her, other than by the contents being corroborated by eight people across two families.

However, has the writing in the handwritten letters which confess to thefts been compared with SW's writing and authenticated as SW's?

Just to say I find it astonishing SW can deny any wrong doing at all & she’ll presumably never be held to any account at all (?) In time all will blow over & they’ll be scot free (?)

Thank you Chloe for all your investigative work. It is important I think, even if it hasn’t gone down well with everyone.
Please feel free to ignore if this isn’t an appropriate aspect to question.

In the letter/email, SW seemed to claim to have already been in debt prior to their last private loan secured on their home and the thefts from family. Perhaps, in part, because they had a comparatively large mortgage for their small incomes.

I wonder how it was even possible for them to have succeeded in borrowing so much? Unsecured credit is not as difficult to obtain but mortgages require proof of income.
Do you know whether their mortgage was from a bank, building society, or some other type of lender?
Did they then borrow even more to fund conversion of the barn? It doesn’t justify the thefts and lies at all but I do wonder how they got themselves into such a huge financial mess in the first place.

I can’t help feeling that TW and SW must have been wildly over optimistic about what they could ever expect to pay down on their mortgage without having to eventually sell their home.

cheeky second question - feel free to ignore

As an investigative journalist, can you give us your thoughts on the role of the investigating Mumsnetters (not me, I investigated nothing!) is this a new experience for you, or does it happen from time to time?

Hi Chloe, thank you for taking the time to visit the charabanc, I hope you have been given a comfortable seat and plenty of fudge and cider :)

I have wondered if Bill Cole knew Tim and Sally's real names, before Maxine F got in contact with him. Did they make a fraudulent tenancy agreement with him, or did they use their real names? I'm interested if Bill Cole could have given them the cider farm, or if he only knew their assumed names, and they would have had to reveal their real identities in order for that to happen?

Has anyone from either Tim or Sally's family contacted you to dispute your findings? And if so, what?

Thanks Chloe, it's been a fascinating journey these last months!

A warm welcome back to Mumsnet tonight to Our Chloe! Thank you for joining us again and for agreeing to do this.

As the unexpected OP of our 24 threads in response to your Salt Path exposé, I'm disappointed (!) that I can't be with you and everyone this evening but I'm looking forward to catching up later.

I know just how much everyone has been looking forward to your AMA thread. It already looks like you'll be made to feel very welcome tonight, with talk of cider, fudge and a comfy seat on our charabanc!

Best of luck Chloe - and everyone!

Hi everyone. Although she is joining us tonight to answer our questions exclusively about her The Real Salt Path exposé, there's more to Our Chloe than just her work on the Walker/Winns:

Chloe Hadjimatheou is the Observer's Narrative Editor and an award winning investigative journalist. She reported two podcast series for Tortoise Investigates: Lucky Boy and The Gas Man and produced the series The State of Netanyahu. She also focuses on stories in the Middle East, particularly Israel-Palestine and Syria. Chloe was shortlisted for journalism’s most prestigious award, the Orwell Prize.

Chloe Hadjimatheou | The Observer

Hi Chloe, and thanks for your work on this.

Could you tell us, subject to confidentiality of course, how you got to see a copy of Lightly Salted Blackberries? Did it contain much that wasn't in The Salt Path and what, if anything, does that tell us about the part played by Sally Walker's agent and publisher? I'm aware of the inconsistency around her mother's death, but wondered if there was anything else?

A second question if not too cheeky, did you get to the bottom of whether 'Anna' existed or if the Walkers just rented the Polruan flat like regular people?

Just to say another very good question!

Aside from the public shaming, which they don't seem to be all that fussed about, what actual repercussions will they face?

What stops the Sally Walker from adopting a new nom de plume and continuing her writing career?

I realised today that I missed the last sentence of my post off and of course can't edit now. I just want to add that I really enjoyed your written coverage, the podcasts and documentary and want to wish you great success in all future investigations.

I sincerely hope that all those who have told you their story will feel more peace now that you have laid bare this deceit.

If you scan through online reviews you will find incredibly sad accounts of people who felt as if they weren’t facing down their own degenerative diseases with sufficient courage. (The Times)

This is why this story needed to be told. Thank you very much.

Do you have a lot more information that's not yet corroborated enough to publish / needs to be legally tighter (so more to come!) or do you feel that this is probably as far as you can investigate and report on this?

Thank you for exposing this fraudulent pair. The false hope part of the story really affected people I know. It was beyond cruel.

I’m intrigued by Lightly Salted Blackberries. It was edited a lot to become TSP and the death of Sally’s mother was placed in book 2. It clearly isn’t a simple piece printed out for Tim and tied up with string! Do you know if it was edited by the publisher? Or did Sally’s agent change it first to sex up the story? And can you tell us where you found your copy?

Second Question please, if you have time Chloe 😊

Have you been contacted by anyone, who despite being wronged by SW/TW, felt that heartfelt apology and recompense had already been made to them? I am specifically referring to the years prior to your investigation, rather than after everything coming to light. Once financially more secure, did they look back and try to put anything right?

Sneaking in from the back seat with a cheeky second question if there's time for Our Chloe - do you think there are any criminal charges to be brought against Sally Walker and/or Tim Walker? Superficially they seem to have been guilty of benefit fraud and bringing a company (cafe) into disrepute for which they don't seem to have faced any repercussions, but are there more charges which could be brought?

A second question, so do please ignore it if you are short of time! It's about the Four Hares company.

What do you think the purpose of the Four Hares company was in 2020, do you think this purpose has changed since then and are there any signs the company has been operating since your story broke just July?