Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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

1000 replies

DisappointedReader · 11/07/2025 12:48

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 item 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?

Thread 4 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5370609-thread-4-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

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

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

Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal that the truth behind it is ve...

https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-behind-a-bestseller-left-a-trail-of-debt-and-deceit

OP posts:
Thread gallery
47
Catwith69lives · 11/07/2025 22:35

In the podcast Chloe says that she thinks there will be more to this story.....

Woolftown · 11/07/2025 22:35

This has really interesting background about how they got the story. Sounds like there is more to come. Raynor and Moth and Penguin were given ample time to respond. CH’s take was that they didn’t expect the story to become as big as it has. The Observer accepts that Moth originally got a CPB diagnosis but pointed out that from the outset the consultant effectively said it was an atypical case due to the slow development of symptoms. The person who originally approached them did so because the medical stuff didn’t seem to add up. They aren’t ready to break cover.

User14March · 11/07/2025 22:40

‘We had long since dismissed the prophecy that we would work with a tortoise’ RW…Hmmm. Do so at your peril. Beware the tortoise/Observer…Reading TSP & seeing this ref again at the end :) Spooky.

User14March · 11/07/2025 22:40

*Walk not work.

DisappointedReader · 11/07/2025 22:40

I suppose I’ll just have to read the damn thing and find out for myself and that truly fills me with dread particularly if they bewitch me with their weasel words and I find myself thinking you know what they may just have a point!

The trick @sualipa is to throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder before reading.

OP posts:
mauvishagain · 11/07/2025 22:41

I doubt there are any copies of the earlier novel around.

I spent a week on a walking holiday with a successful self-publicist/author (she was claiming a 6 figure annual income at that point). Part of her USP was writing books about how to be a successful author, and she said that if you self-published, you simply ran off the copies as they were ordered.

I'm guessing it's slightly more complex if you want things to look professional; but it wouldn't surprise me if that was the planned modus operandi of Gangani press. So, no unsold copies in existence if that's the case.

FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 22:42

Chloe H on the podcast does a good job in explaining the differences between CBS and CBD.

CBS are symptoms that can be caused by a variety of illnesses, including CBD, but also Alzheimers. Whereas CBD is an illness in itself.

So he wasn'y doagnosed with CBD just the symptoms that could have been, but eventually in 2019 the consultant thought it might be something else.

Aspanielstolemysanity · 11/07/2025 22:44

Woolftown · 11/07/2025 22:35

This has really interesting background about how they got the story. Sounds like there is more to come. Raynor and Moth and Penguin were given ample time to respond. CH’s take was that they didn’t expect the story to become as big as it has. The Observer accepts that Moth originally got a CPB diagnosis but pointed out that from the outset the consultant effectively said it was an atypical case due to the slow development of symptoms. The person who originally approached them did so because the medical stuff didn’t seem to add up. They aren’t ready to break cover.

One possibility on the medical side is that the neurologist made a misdiagnosis and then tried to save face by saying it was "atypical" rather than looking for other explanations (whether with their knowledge - given the success of the books- or not).

I think I am still haunted by the bizarre wording of the Feb 2025 letter to be fair.

FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 22:44

Catwith69lives · 11/07/2025 22:35

In the podcast Chloe says that she thinks there will be more to this story.....

Yes, and that she's currently doing more digging but isn't ready to share yet.

I wonder what it'll be.

Fandango52 · 11/07/2025 22:45

sualipa · 11/07/2025 19:30

At 07:00 if you want to skip - that said I haven't listened to Dead Ringers for years it's certainly not ageing well and John Culshaw has sadly left.

Edited

I still find it very funny, personally. I think the other cast members are also very talented - especially Jan Ravens, if she’s still there.

FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 22:46

mauvishagain · 11/07/2025 22:41

I doubt there are any copies of the earlier novel around.

I spent a week on a walking holiday with a successful self-publicist/author (she was claiming a 6 figure annual income at that point). Part of her USP was writing books about how to be a successful author, and she said that if you self-published, you simply ran off the copies as they were ordered.

I'm guessing it's slightly more complex if you want things to look professional; but it wouldn't surprise me if that was the planned modus operandi of Gangani press. So, no unsold copies in existence if that's the case.

I think at least one person on the smallholding forum bought one, so maybe there are a couple on dusty bookshelves somewhere.

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 22:48

mauvishagain · 11/07/2025 22:41

I doubt there are any copies of the earlier novel around.

I spent a week on a walking holiday with a successful self-publicist/author (she was claiming a 6 figure annual income at that point). Part of her USP was writing books about how to be a successful author, and she said that if you self-published, you simply ran off the copies as they were ordered.

I'm guessing it's slightly more complex if you want things to look professional; but it wouldn't surprise me if that was the planned modus operandi of Gangani press. So, no unsold copies in existence if that's the case.

Looks like a walking book as a sequel was on the cards in 2012!

Thread 5: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?
FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 22:50

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 22:15

I think someone posted on an earlier thread that they had seen evidence of the Walkers leaving Cornwall on 17th September 2013, when they claimed to still be walking. I've also seen a social media post that says they were driven by a family member from Cornwall to Bristol that day. However, the book describes watching a play at the Minack Theatre - Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe, which google says was playing between Mon 16th September and Sat 21st September 2013. It was that night they claimed to have camped at Treen and didn't pay. So if they left the path on 17th, they could only have gone to the opening night and anything that comes after the night is either complete fabrication, happened on another walking trip or never happened!

Anyone can look up what's playing at a venue. Or someone they know (family, perhaps!) might have gone and kept a programme.

FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 22:52

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 22:48

Looks like a walking book as a sequel was on the cards in 2012!

Wow! Cape Wrath Trail, West Highland Way, the Borders and the Pennine Way anyone?

(Landlines walk)

DisappointedReader · 11/07/2025 22:57

Is there cocaine in this somewhere? Was it mentioned on an earlier thread in relation to the Gangani/Izzy's book/raffle ticket saga?

ETA Maybe in the plot of the book??

OP posts:
AldoGordo · 11/07/2025 23:04

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 22:48

Looks like a walking book as a sequel was on the cards in 2012!

Sounds like the sequel eventually became Landlines.

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 23:05

DisappointedReader · 11/07/2025 22:57

Is there cocaine in this somewhere? Was it mentioned on an earlier thread in relation to the Gangani/Izzy's book/raffle ticket saga?

ETA Maybe in the plot of the book??

Edited

Yes! Along with a bad investment.

Thread 5: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?
AldoGordo · 11/07/2025 23:09

FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 22:50

Anyone can look up what's playing at a venue. Or someone they know (family, perhaps!) might have gone and kept a programme.

The theatre's facebook page confirms these dates and there was no other production of that play at the theatre in 2013. There are a couple of videos of the performance on YouTube, and 1 review on TripAdvisor by an attendee.

DisappointedReader · 11/07/2025 23:10

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 23:05

Yes! Along with a bad investment.

Oh well done. Thanks for that. I thought so but couldn't quite place where it had come from. Interesting.

OP posts:
SpiceRoad · 11/07/2025 23:15

From the posts on that smallholding forum it looks as though Gangani were selling both ecopy downloads and hard copies.

In one post Gangani mentions their sales on a particular day were 50% to NZ, 25% to Italy and 25% to UK. Another poster immediately clocks that's probably only 4 copies then! Gangani responds in typically evasive fashion!

It seems unlikely that more than a few dozen copies were issued, some of which will be abroad and/or many of which will be languishing forgotten or inaccessible on old computers or devices.

Orangesandlemons77 · 11/07/2025 23:19

MadSpringHare · 11/07/2025 23:05

Yes! Along with a bad investment.

Interesting what it says about "will his past catch up with him"

Noshadelamp · 11/07/2025 23:21

Moth/Tim is as bad as Raymor/Sally and we can't believe anything he says either. He seems to lie to misdirect or gain sympathy for Raynor/Sally.

I don't think we can believe she took out credit cards in his name, without him knowing (if it even happened at all).

From the Times article:

Hemmings recalled Tim sobbing and claiming that his wife had fled to the Isle of Skye because she was so upset.I
n fact, it seems Walker had travelled to London to see Stan, a close relative of Tim’s who would come to play a pivotal role in The Salt Path.

He came into work one day and said his wife had lost her job as a bookkeeper at a hotel in Abersoch and he was a bit worried,” Hemmings said.
Coincidentally, the bookkeeper at the surveying and estate agency run by her husband, Martin, in Pwllheli had recently retired. Sally Walker was given a part-time job

When Tim arrived two days later, she says, he explained with disbelief that his wife had taken out four credit cards in his name without his knowledge.
Stan agreed to find the couple a good lawyer and to provide them a loan “to avoid her being prosecuted for stealing from her employer”, Jane recalled.

Also his own nephew has already called both of them pathological liars.

Speagle · 11/07/2025 23:22

In an interview with Sally and Tim he made out he didn't know she could write as if it was a big surprise to him and yet it looks likely that Izzy's book was written by Sally with Tim publishing it before TSP.
If it's found out to be all lies will they face any charges/costs to repay?

FurryHappyKittens · 11/07/2025 23:25

Speagle · 11/07/2025 23:22

In an interview with Sally and Tim he made out he didn't know she could write as if it was a big surprise to him and yet it looks likely that Izzy's book was written by Sally with Tim publishing it before TSP.
If it's found out to be all lies will they face any charges/costs to repay?

Exactly! They were made for each other!

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is not accepting new messages.
Swipe left for the next trending thread