Thread 4: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

[DisappointedReader]

The Observer The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...

Second article in the Observer
https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-whats-in-the-book-and-what-the-observer-has-found

Third article in the Observer
https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-the-truth-behind-the-blockbuster-book-video

Thread One ^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?^

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

Thread 3 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5369425-thread-3-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement Raynor Winn

I think he's an investment banker so it will be a struggle to see him in any better light than our 2 grifters. Indeed as they were already famous he would probably be hoping for a boost to his probable vanity business by having them on board.

Here we are, continuing our journey on the meandering Rather Large Pinch of Salt Path. Thanks to all for keeping it interesting and amazingly civil.

Thread 5: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet

Jesus, the twee-ness of that encounter with the owner makes me cringe from my head to my toes!

As I mentioned, I’ve got TSP on my bookshelf, but haven’t read that or the other ones yet. I do still want to read TSP, but the Disney-fication of it all just sets my teeth on edge.

One thing I like about the film is it still has a gung-ho toughness about it, and doesn’t take itself too seriously, whereas the books seem much more gooey!

It's all very interesting.

I can see the owner offering them the house (in exchange for what, I don't know) just to have someone on the farm as a presence to deter potential thieves and so on.

However, from the Insta posts, he seems quite involved in both the cider business and also the farming, which is sheep and cattle. He also employs a number of people.

The Insta posts begin in 2016.

I don’t know why you are insisting that 2 million copies is not that many and the book isn’t that big a deal.

Believe me, it is.

No, it might not be a household name because books hardly ever are.

Are they?

I'm not

"Given recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth's health condition which has caused considerable distress to Raynor Winn and her family, it is our priority to support the author at this time," Penguin Michael Joseph said in a statement.

"With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, have made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October."

A new release date will be announced in due course, the publisher added.

Seems like Penguin may have advised the Walkers to lie low until the media storm has passed, launch 'On Winter Hill' at some point and hope to rinse and repeat a winning formula in the hope that the "brand" hasn't been unduly tarnished and people have short memories!

I still haven’t seen the film, but actually TSP isn’t at all ‘gooey’. Or maybe better to say that such gooeyness as it has is concentrated solely on moments of communion with the natural world (which are counterweighted by a lot of sunburn, wild shitting and sour digressions about former fishing villages overrun with tourists and second homers) and her love for Moth.

The odd and interesting thing about it is that the Walkers hate the overwhelming majority of the other people they encounter on the path.

Lots of rather scathing pen pictures of people dragging their dogs and children aside when they say they’re homeless, refusing to let them fill their water bottles, telling they shouldn’t be wild camping, fellow walkers who are not doing the path ‘properly’ (marching along on a schedule, having their luggage transported, giving up when they see a hill) etc.

I quite liked that about it — that no editor had said ‘Look, Raynor, you come across as a real pain in the ass in this book’ and insisted on sweetening it up. Because if I had just become homeless, damn right I’d have hated everyone.

I have sent you a PM @FurryHappyKittens

Ugh.

There has been no ‘intrusive conjecture’.

All that can be concluded from the Observer investigation is that Moth’s case is very atypical and that it would be unwise to make generalised assumptions about the impact of walking on symptoms.

Penguin have just pocketed the dosh and are now evading responsibility.

I imagine if it is to be published at all that the publishers now need to go over 'On Winter Hill' with a fine tooth comb to forestall any further negative publicity.

And Penguin surely have looked at the letter from 2015 and know he was never diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2013.

And now are left with the question as to how to package the latest book knowing he was only ever diagnosed with a mild form of CBS.

I feel sorry for Angela Harding. She won't have control over the cover art if it is published next year some time.

They certainly mention paying rent to him, because at one point they’re paying rent for the farm and also the Polruan flat because the farmhouse isn’t yet habitable so they’re still living in the flat. But it may have been just a peppercorn rent, I suppose? Likewise the flat, presumably, otherwise surely they couldn’t have both lived on a single student loan?

I think I was surprised, because I assumed he was offering to let them live there for free in exchange for a certain amount of work on the farm…

I wonder where they got the money from to pay rent to anyone?

In winter 2013 to summer 2014 they stayed with "Polly" in exchange for work.

I wonder if there's just a long list of family members being taken advantage of?

There is an element of Sally/Raynor's latest statement that I found odd & I don't think anyone else has picked up on yet.

In 2008, we asked for the money back. He said he didn’t have it but offered us a loan through his company. We agreed. Because the loan was coming from his company, he said it had to follow the company’s standard loan terms: 18% interest, which he would cover, and a charge on our home in his name. He assured us this was standard practice and only temporary as he would soon repay the loan to his company, and the charge would be removed. We were uneasy, but after so many years, it seemed like a way to finally resolve the issue. We trusted that Cooper would honour his word and repay the money to his company, as repayment of our original investment.
But he didn’t return the money to us or his company and the charge against our home wasn’t removed. Instead, he used the charge on our home to pay off his business creditors. In 2010, his company went into liquidation.

'Cooper' tells them that the loan is from the company with 18% interest, which he would cover, plus a charge against the house. The implication is that 'Cooper' would be paying the extortionate interest not the Walkers.

https://www.raynorwinn.co.uk/

If you think 18% is extortionate, make sure you pay off your credit card every month. An average credit card in the UK currently charges around 24% interest, although there is huge variation with some being much lower than that and some much higher.

I think she's written the part about the loan in such a confusing way deliberately to make it unfathomable to anyone reading who doesn't have experience in the field.

I also think she says this to make it sound like Cooper knew he owed them money. But if he put a charge on the house, then I doubt he'd be offering to pay the interest on the loan. Sounds ridiculous!

But we know anyway that the loan was from a family member to pay off the embezzlement.

I assume Moth’s student loan for the flat, and the advance for TSP when that came through by the time they’d moved to the farm?

I don’t think either of them looked ‘old’ ‘smelly’ or ‘homeless’. All this derision seemed odd to me esp as hiking. I know not all ‘homeless’ look homeless & this was a real takeaway for Gillian A, not like Vancouver etc.

When did they move to the farm? They must have moved to the Polruan flat sometime late in 2014 after she says they finished the path. But it isn't until 2015 I think in the consultant's letter that gives the go ahead for Tim Walker to pursue his studies.

I think. Or was he studying before that, and got the go ahead to continue.

The advance for TSP may have been simetime in 2017 as it came out in March 2018.

The difference is that credit cards are supposed to be paid off every month. They aren’t supposed to be used to pay off large or long term loans.

Trading companies aren’t in the business of lending money so it would be odd for them to have ‘standard terms’.

Their explanation doesn’t make sense, and even if the conclusion is that they were naive and Cooper was dodgy, the logical response from sympathetic media is to want to understand how they got into such a mess and what can be done to prevent others losing their home in such a way.

If you were a journalist, @MyGodMyThighs, you would investigate and find proof of wrongdoing before casting aspersions online about a doctor who may or may not be Moth’s neurologist and may or may not be the same person who owns a property business in Pwhelli 🙄 Talk about guilt by (possible) association.

It is not at all uncommon for academic journals to have reviews of non academic books that have a connection to the subject, There is nothing wrong with what he wrote in the context of his audience as I and @prh47bridge (more eloquently than I) have explained. It would be inappropriate to identify Moth as being his patient in a review (if he is).

From what little information it is possible to glean on Companies House, I would guess the business is a holiday let or rental property. It’s hardly unusual for a doctor to own a holiday home or investment property. Given that he works for the local health trust, there is nothing surprising that he may own a property in a town where his patients live, is it?

What are you suggesting could be “strange” and needs investigating?

Oh good haha - glad to hear it’s balanced by those other moments! Your post from earlier about The Wild Silence made me wary 😂😂

Thread 5

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