Thread 2. To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

[AWanderingFool]

Thread Two for The Salt Path and Raynor Winn/Sally Walker/Sally Winn discussions.

Thread One is here: www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5368194-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

Given Tim Walker’s nephew’s post on LinkedIn, I’m wondering if the ‘distant relative of Moth’s’ who lent them £100k is a little closer to home then they’ve let on. Maybe the nephew’s father?

My thinking is that they'd already scorched their way through the generosity of closer family, and that by that time there was only distant family left to take advantage of.

It would explain what the distant relative said about no family of mine going to jail. Maybe he thought everyone else was being mean not lending them money.

I think the next aspect that journos will look into is if they actually did all the walking and wild camping she said they did. Like a few PPs said, the South West Path can be tricky, and they seemed woefully under-equipped.

Let's not get into the realm of fantasy on this thread. It's the cold reality that is the shocking revelation for a majority of people.

In response to the "no one died" argument, it's entirely possible that someone did. Someone who really does have CBD and who attempted to "cure" themselves the same way Moth did.

Im not saying he doesn't have an illness but I am reserving judgement. And I will admit to having skin in the game (if that's the right expression) since my dh and my dm both died of brain related illnesses.

And as I mentioned on the first thread, a young man I know, now 31, has been campaigning and raising money for brain charities, since being diagnosed at 25 with terminal brain cancer. It makes me very angry to think of truly inspiring people like him fighting every step of the way, when there are people out there who (possibly) invent illnesses for sympathy, publicity and cash.

In response to the "no one died" argument, it's entirely possible that someone did. Someone who really does have CBD and who attempted to "cure" themselves the same way Moth did.

Martin Hemmings is dead. It wouldn't surprise me if the shock and stress of what happened took a few months off his life.

I’ve just been reading some reviews there. Some savvy people there:

Duplicitous nonsense

The author is homeless because of a bad financial decision they made. I'd guess that they allowed their farm to be used as security for something and then spent ages trying to prove they weren't liable for their own decision (so little detail is provided of the court case - I doubt that the author proved anything in spite of her cries of injustice).

5 April 2021, Mrs Chefe

Yes, I noticed this one from 5 years ago

1.0 out of 5 stars Was I led up the garden path?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 August 2020

Please be aware: the following contains spoilers!
Judging by all the other Amazon reviews, I'm in a minority when it comes to my negative assessment of this book. Hand on heart though, I found this to be tedious and rather irritating. I have personal experience of spending many months 'wild camping' and have done lots of long-distance walks during my life. So I was looking forward to reading the exploits of two people doing something similar, but I'm afraid this was ultimately a disappointing read for me.

For sure, it had all the right elements to make it an inspiring, moving account. I mean, we had a middle-aged couple losing a home and a farm, we had a husband being diagnosed with a terminal illness, and we had the promise of them throwing caution to the wind and going on a wild adventure - courtesy of a walk along the South West Coast Path. But really, it wasn't emotionally engaging at all for me. I have to get to 'know' the characters in a book I'm reading. However, after turning over that last page, I didn't feel any wiser about what made Raynor or Moth tick, because the author didn't demonstrate the writing skills to convey their individual, true personalities. In truth, Raynor came across as a perpetual whinger, and Moth, for the most part, was this individual who said next to nothing and played a peripheral part in the structure of this tale.

This book suggests that Raynor and Moth were intelligent, resourceful practical folk who were used to living off the land and working outdoors. Why then didn't they better prepare for their trip? Raynor didn't even take a sun hat, so lost the skin off her nose several times, before realising Ray had a spare hat in his rucksack! Moth initially found it difficult to walk - so why didn't they get him a walking pole, or improvise with a 'free' stick out of the woods? As farmers, they were used to weather patterns and temperature changes, yet bought cheap, thin sleeping bags, instead of 'three season' ones. Don't get me started on their food and drink choices. They seemed to spend most of their time eating chips and fudge bars and constantly running out of food and water. They hardly ever mentioned buying bread, crackers, cheese, tomatoes, apples, the kind of 'staples' that'll easily get most backpackers through a day or two. By the way, I've walked many long sections of the South West Coast Path, and have never failed to find water.

The running joke of Moth being mistaken for the poet, Simon Armitage got very silly. I've since seen photo's of Moth, and I can tell you he looks nothing like Mr Armitage! Simon has thick, dark brown hair and is of an hefty build. In contrast, Moth has thinning white hair and is slim. There was a section where they get picked up by Gordon, a rich wine merchant. After talking to Raynor and Moth for about three minutes (and yes, thinking Moth is actually that poet laureate) he drives them back to his posh rented farm house, where he lets them have free use of the showers, before presenting them with freshly-cooked lasagne, served with chilled beers. Later, Raynor finds her hubby topless in the next room having his shoulders caressed by Gordon's attractive PR lady, and the equally attractive nanny being kept busy massaging his toes with oily fingers. It was like something out of one of those Brian Rix farces from many years ago. This was just one of their allegedly 'true' experiences that had my eyes rolling....

I appreciated their financial issues, but there were inconsistencies in the way they tried to balance their needs. In Padstow, Raynor decides to unnecessarily buy six fudge bars - but then gets fed up of waiting in a queue, so steals them. Later that day they buy the most expensive bag of chips in town - from Rick Stein's infamous fish & chip shop. Cheaper and more nutritious food could have been bought in that village, I know because I've been there. I also didn't like the way they sneaked into some campsites, pitched their tent, used the showers, washing facilities and toilets, then disappeared without paying. It would have been a nice gesture if, at the end of the book, Raynor had disclosed that once their finances had improved they had actually recompensed those who they took advantage of. Alas, she didn't. In closing, I'd just like to add that I have no doubt this book will inevitably be made into a movie - probably starring a couple of older actors like Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent....

Some of those one star reviews were so bang on the money!!!

I feel a complete and utter idiot for not listening to the little bits of doubt I had. I even went to see the film when it came to my local cinema.

On the illness, I noticed this on Wikipedia, seems consultants have been recommending it to their patients

The neurologist Rhys Davies, in Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, commented that they did not often review best sellers, "still less travel books", but added that The Salt Path had "a neurological twist", given Moth's diagnosis.[9] Mentioning the value of laughter as "the best medicine", he describes the book as a tale of "the indomitable human spirit".[9] He finds the Winns a powerful case for "the benefits of positive action and of physical therapy, even for the ghastliest of neurodegenerative conditions."[9] He recommends the book to clinicians and patients alike.[9]

Raynor Winn has a new book coming out in October called On Winter Hill , apparently in this book she has to do the walk on her own as Moth isn't well enough . To say he's so ill he doesn't half look healthy !

While I absolutely understand the deep emotional response to The Salt Path, particularly from those affected by neurological illness and I’m truly sorry for your losses I’d gently offer a broader perspective that might also be worth considering.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that 1% of the book’s readers well or not were inspired not to reject medical care, but to live more actively, reconnect with nature, or even just leave the house more often. That’s not a trivial effect. For someone dealing with grief, depression, chronic illness, or even just the inertia of modern life, The Salt Path might well have offered a spark however imperfect the source to lace up some boots and walk.

Even if the book is “flawed” or selectively remembered, its net cultural impact could still include thousands of people improving their physical and mental wellbeing through outdoor pursuits. That’s not nothing. Books don't need to be perfect to be useful, or even quietly transformative.

Yes, it’s important to scrutinise the truth claims in memoirs especially those involving serious illness. But I worry that in trying to prove harm, we may be missing potential positive ripple effects, even unintended ones. Nobody has claimed this book is a medical manual. If anyone genuinely did abandon treatment based on it, that would be deeply troubling but it would be an outlier. Far more likely, the book has simply encouraged people to get outside, reflect, and maybe even reclaim a little hope in the face of hardship.

And for what it’s worth, sometimes we need flawed stories because life is flawed, too. It's not Trainspotting after all.

I read lots of books but I had never heard of Raynor Winn or The Salt Path until she started doing promotion of the film a couple of months ago. I wonder if someone saw her on television and was gobsmacked by the fraudster they knew sitting by Gillian Anderson and telling her 'inspirational' tale of being swindled and despised but triumphing with her 'true-life' story that is now a Hollywood film.

Most people were taken in, they would have expected the publishers to verify the details.

Free archive version

https://archive.ph/vNYjC

Thanks so much!

As it stands, Winn has a fourth instalment of her walking adventures due for publication in the autumn. It can’t possibly come out now though, surely? If it does, a suggestion: file it not in the memoir section, but in fantasy.

Bizarre take. Scammers scam more people, and your take is "At least they got some people to get more fresh air!"?!

I think that Coat was from Toast, decades ago. (Completely missing main point of thread)

Thank you Vipers, loving your thoughts.

I walk chunks of the SW and other paths. I am obsessive about kit, as is Cheryl Strayed in Wild and Mark Wallington. Simon Armitage had his massive case portered so he doesn't get a say. That's what made me suspicious. When you don't have much and you have to carry it, there is no spare sunhat.

Well take most religions if they do good for some whilst being patently nonsensical to others then we should take the Winn so to speak ! The book and it's impact on folks and their alleged scams are effectively two separate issues though obvioulsy overlapping for the heavily invested.

Orangesandlemons77

That's an extremely astute review, and I feel extremely foolish for being taken in by the book. The only thing the reviewer got wrong was the casting for the film.

There are plenty of ways to encourage people to get fresh air and exercise that don't involve making up a steaming pile of falsehoods

Potentially all the more reason to distance themselves very publically or it could be their business that gets a backlash from this.

Gently, there are plenty of writers and plenty of books about nature and exercise. In an alternative universe without this book, just publish a different book.

If he had a serious, degenerative terminal illness he would be probably qualify for the higher rate of Universal Credit and be exempt for looking for work. Possibly PIP too. There would also be the possibility of the housing element of Universal Credit.

Unless, of course, he couldn't provide evidence of his illness.

I think though that his all misses the point of why people enjoyed the book so much. No-one really wants to read a book about how ‘perfect’ backpackers made perfect decisions at all times on their model wild camping trip. It wasn’t a manual.

Real people, tired, hungry and a little desperate choose the Rick Stein chips to feel, just for a moment, that they are like any other tourist, and that’s worth the extra few pounds. Real people forget to fill up their water bottles or check there is enough water in the partner’s bottle to get through the next stretch. In real life the weather gets hotter or colder and without internet or $ to buy the paper, you don’t really know. On real trips you encounter extraordinary acts of hospitality and kindness from strangers (along with terrible acts of betrayal), if you make yourself open and vulnerable to them.

I’m sad about these revelations about the couple because I do think ‘Ray’ Is a gifted writer who, whatever the truth of the real story, created a narrator who was on display with flaws, sometimes unlikable, definitely bumbling along making some bad decisions like all of us do when we are travelling, and because of that it came across as authentic. Oh the irony. I actually wish she had been able to write the true story but I suspect she rightly figured that if the told the truth about the embezzlement the book would never have been published. I hope they pay their debts now and tell the truth about Moth’s illness so people with degenerative illnesses are not given false hope by the story. These are flawed people. But… throwing stones and all that…