Thread 5: 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 item in the Observer
https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-the-truth-behind-the-blockbuster-book-video

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Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement Raynor Winn

Their faces are so all over the media at the moment, wherever they are, I doubt they can leave the house. It's going to be very difficult for them to drop off the radar this time and re-emerge somewhere else with a different name.

And with specific allegations of forged cheques surely the police have a duty to investigate. Even if it is a long time ago.

I think that's where the world divides in two.

Once you've lived with /got a family member who is superficially charming you realise to be wary of these charms

My ex was like this. Horribly abusive behind closed doors, Mr Perfect outside them

Whereas my husband is pretty socially awkward but has a heart of gold.

At this stage, in my opinion, not very much. There may well be more damaging revelations about them in the pipeline. If I were them, I'd be inclined to keep my head below the parapet and then have a meeting with their publisher/agent and PR firm to decide how to address all the information which has come to light.

Writing a weasel word explanation on her website of her actions which falls far short of a whole hearted "mea culpa" , wasn't a smart move in my opinion.

I find the walker vignettes & the stiff disapproval faced very hard to believe too. Hyancinth Buckets not usually backpackers. Other stereotypes too…I think the disapproval she felt possibly a manifestation of her guilt & internalised shame.

I'm not at all suggesting that it is was anything more than a father and son day.

I'm just pointing out that surfing is very therapeutic (hence reference to 'surfability' type organisations) and 'teaching' somebody to surf does not necessarily involve anything more than messing about in the water.

The coastal walk itself is more indicative of physical capability.

I still think it’s doable but it will require a full admission of financial impropriety, framed within a narrative of personal crisis: a deeply difficult time marked by mental health struggles, Moth battling a potentially life-threatening illness, and a sense of hopelessness that spiraled out of control.

There needs to be a complete and unflinching apology, followed by a carefully managed media appearance perhaps an interview with someone like Bear Grylls (a suggestion I made jokingly before, but now seems less far-fetched). He’s media-savvy, widely respected, and might offer a gentler platform assuming they can convincingly project sincerity.

Additionally, some of the blame could be directed at Penguin. Their aggressive marketing approach arguably pushed boundaries: putting words in their mouths, making claims they never explicitly endorsed, guided by people far more experienced in the darker arts of publicity than they were.

And then dissapear probably not in the UK and lie low for 6 months.

That's hilarious. Thanks for the digression.

Oh right - thanks for clarifying!

Just to add to this, one thing that I've seen people say is how we can't know the 2015 letter is the earliest diagnoses despite the wording and confusion of CBS vs CBD. It's worth pointing out, however, that RW in her statement explicity raises CBS for the first time because of this letter she shared, offering a vague and slightly misleading explainer that they are the same thing, just one is symptoms and the other is pathology, except missing out that CBS can have other underlying causes besides CBD.

Why has she never talked about CBS before but instead always referred to CBD? She tries to argue it away as a more recently common description used by clinicians but I'm doubtful about that. I think why she really brought it up and needed to explain it is because CBS is the first diagnosis and that 2015 letter is the earliest evidence she could provide.

Were they allegedly homeless, destitute & poverty stricken here? Moth looks like a Mountain Warehouse model! Karrimor, Berghaus & new clobber. I can’t imagine they’d be shunned by the masses for looking old, being smelly & obvs homeless? He also goes out re: interview as for all/most of others?

It's not been established that the purpose of re-mortgaging was to buy the French land and property, which is estimated at £20-35k when bought. According to a local quoted it was inhabitable at time of purchase, 2007. That date aligns with the period SW was stealing from the Hemmings and renovating her Welsh farmhouse with slate floors and a powder-blue aga.

SW seems to have had a spending addiction, Hemmings mentions she paid off her shopping debts with forged cheques. And may or may not have taken out 4 credit cards in TW's name. There may be other financial outgoings (even perhaps a property portfolio investment, as that gets mentioned so much and usually there is some twisted tie with reality), they also both lost their jobs, SW in 2008, TW sometime before 2013.

Expect the remortgage became necessary somewhere along their financial 'path' without necessarily being directly linked to the desire whim to buy the French place.

From the frequent references to never being able to holiday abroad while younger it was a 'we deserve this' holiday home purchase and or an 'if all else fails' backup home option but they didn't realise how much work it needed, or TW health deteriorated before they could do it up. If the latter is so, that was prior to the Haye Cider Farm stay and would seem to indicate they wouldn't have been able to renovate that (though personally I think that property was always in good condition).

The thing is, we're still hung up on fairly minor details and taking them at their word a bit too much, as is instinctual: so understandable. Maybe everything took a downward spiral in their 40s, but remember these individuals could have lifelong form at it all. They don't exactly make master criminals but wouldn't be surprised if they've previously conned and stolen from many others.

I agree with this. I spent a week (6 days to be precise - don't want artistic licence creeping in!) walking the SWCP in 2023 at the age of 53 with my partner. Nothing to do with TSP... I live in Devon and we'd talked about it for ages. We carried everything on our backs, set off from Salcombe and walked in the direction of home!

EVERYONE was so incredibly helpful, it actually restored my faith in human nature and there wasn't a single comment about age! We had people offering us lifts to camp sites, giving me their landline to use to contact my very elderly parents when we had no mobile signal. One couple even came to our tent gifting fresh strawberries as we were living off dried MREs. It was gruelling at times, but really wonderful at others.

As an aside - this is pure speculation - but if you have the balls / greed to swindle your employer out of 64k... that's quite some amount for a first crime! I would speculate that there is form!

The dm article has the creditors say they didn’t receive anything back because the house only sold for 200k and the outstanding to the bank exceeded that

so they either went bankrupt without declaring all of their assets or they still owe money

This sounds like an excellent strategy @sualipa

Perhaps you should make your advice directly available to them!

My take is that the DM and Times know The Observer will be publishing again this Sunday and have done their best to compete by covering the story with as many new angles and interviews as they can before then.

I think the problem with them doing a mea culpa/mental health thing now is that her initial rebuttal will make it look too calculated

she was willing to brazen it out but once the momentum got going suddenly had a pang of conscience? She would just come across as a wily operator

The Chloe H podcast seemed to suggest that although something was in the works, it wasn't imminent.

It is ironic that the book with the most questionable factual timeline was apparently written as Sally was worried that Tim would lose his memories of the walk, it's really going to fuck with his mind. " No your name isn't Tim dear, no you got Ill before the walk not after, see, it's in the book"

He’s apparently genuinely beginning to lose his memory (?)

https://www.minack.com/visit-us/accessibility

Having been to the Minack, it's a fabulous setting but access is tricky and requires planning ahead.

Thanks! I'm sure professional crisis managers with far more expertise than I have are working behind the scenes to chart a path through this dilemma. Once Part 2 of The Observer piece is published and other journalists have done their work, there should be a much clearer picture of what needs to be done. I also can’t see Penguin abandoning them at least not if the situation is still salvageable. That said, a pause is probably in everyone’s best interests for now.

If I was a journalist I'd be trying to track down the owners of the hotel in Abersoch to find out the circumstances of Sally's 'redundancy' before she got the job with Hemmings. It's a very long time ago now so the chances are slim but I agree that £64k embezzlement is not a gateway offence!

Can we expect ‘Driving over salty lemons?’ next?

I completely agree with this. She was forced to include CBS but was a bit lucky because of the confusion between the two.

And yes, if there had been an earlier letter with a diagnosis, it would have been shared.

Whatever ongoing medical consultations he was having between the scans in 2011 and the letter in 2015, 2015 is the first time he was potentially diagnosed with anything.

ChatGPT ;

Bear Grylls (BG):
Raynor, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk, especially with everything going on. How are you holding up?
Raynor Winn (RW):
Thanks, Bear. It’s been a deeply painful time—for many people. I want to begin by saying how sorry I am. Truly. If anything I’ve written or any part of my story has caused hurt or harm, I offer my heartfelt apology. That was never my intention.
BG:
That means a lot to hear, Raynor. You’ve always written with such honesty about struggle and survival. But now you’re in a different kind of fire. How are you processing it?
RW:
It’s shaken me, Bear. We walked thousands of miles trying to find dignity in hardship, and I tried to carry that honesty into every word. But I also recognize that narratives have consequences. I now see that I could have done more to represent people and situations with greater care. I got things wrong. And I’m deeply sorry for that.
BG:
You’re showing real courage just saying that. Do you feel people will be able to move forward with you?
RW:
I hope so. I don’t take forgiveness for granted—it’s something that must be earned. But I am asking for it. Not to erase what’s happened, but to acknowledge it fully and do better. I’m listening, I’m learning, and I want to rebuild trust—if people will allow me that chance.
BG:
You’ve always walked forward—even when the way ahead was brutal. What’s next?
RW:
We pause. We reflect. And then—step by step—we try to walk differently. With more humility, more listening, and a lot less certainty. That’s all I can promise.
BG:
Well said. Nature forgives—if we respect it. Maybe people can too. You’re not alone, Raynor. Keep walking.
RW:
Thank you, Bear. That means more than you know.