Thread 6: 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

NB Please be careful when it comes to naming or implicating people who aren't in the public eye or have no connection to the story, especially where details are unclear or still emerging i.e. DON'T DO IT.

Keep on the path. No saltiness. Thank you.

New posters welcome. It would be helpful to read at least the three Observer articles before posting.

Weren’t they already successful with the first book by then ? In which case having them on his farm and the publicity that would generate on social media was quite a savvy move.

I'd like to hear from the people that made the Rick Stein programme as to why they filmed with two "celebrities".rather than one of the many long standing and experienced cider farmers

Well, given that they defaulted, the house was repossessed, and the statute of limitations likely applies, I suspect they’re legally off the hook. As for the £400,000 figure is that calculated based on the admittedly rapacious 18% interest?

That said, none of this absolves them morally. It still paints a picture of deeply disreputable behaviour: misrepresenting their circumstances, concealing key facts, and packaging it all as a redemptive narrative.

Your 'intriguing lapse' is explained in the opening paragraph of the Observer article.

This story and the furore surrounding it is a sorting hat for empathy vs narcissism.

Unless today's article was the filler in the sandwich, giving us important context flr a revelation next week?
Is there meant to be a third article?

Pathological liars, my friend.

Oh yes, they did their utmost to dupe Rick. But I did pick up an awkwardness in some of his facial expressions. Their conversation has an oddness about it and a bit of forced rapport. And of course RW does her usual book references of calling themselves "jagged stones that became sea worn pebbles, turning despair into hope." etc. It was pretty cringe. But of interest as Tim actually does a significant amount of talking in it. Clearly he was having a good day with his CBD because he seems ok squatting awkwardly to pick up apples and lift a heavy metal pole to press them. Overall, I got the impression the TV producers would have had to work hard to get good enough material to use, and they probably insisted that Tim be there.

Well, yes and there was likely an expectation on their part that they were offering something of significant value in return, rather than simply being the grateful recipients of a generous benefactor. He probably should have sat down with them from the outset to clearly define the nature and extent of their relationship. Instead, it seems much was left to implicit understandings which, in hindsight, may never have existed in the same way for all parties involved. Trust , but verify as Ronald Reagan loved to say.

Perhaps the existence of the book was all the due diligence he felt needed - he had no reason at all to doubt them.

Yes, I also considered that. Or easier to say cancer than try to explain a complex neurological disease.

Attention? They both seem to quite like it. Unless it comes in newspaper form.

You tend to only be able to borrow at a very high interest rate if you have a reputation for moonlight flits and theft.

Given they didn't pay any of it back, the 18% looks very reasonable

Yes, and we've seen how many people got sucked in. He did a kind thing and put trust in them, much like Hemmings, and got burned.

Exactly. Especially when it is rare.

Last time I went to France I just told people when needed (eg when a security guard asked why I was sat down in the middle of a supermarket) that I had problems with my legs. Because that seemed easier and simpler than explaining a complex and rare neurological condition

I really want to find and watch this now.
And I do think the whole media industry has questions to answer about how constantly credulous it is.
But maybe they would all point back to the fact a well respected publishing house had described the book they published as "unflinchingly honest"

I've looked carefully on You Tube and can't find it. I shall keep digging - here it is https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/rick-steins-cornwall/season/3

It doesn’t really work like that. Usually you would keep the all important momentum up, not least to maintain ‘ownership’ of the story you had broken. A dam fizzle and sad trombone noise is not the follow-up any editor worth his/her salt [path] should have sorted out for Week Two.

‘A man whose hands appeared never to have seen dirt, or caught the fleece of a ewe thick with lanolin, or laid a hedge. The clean soft hands of an office worker’

The cider farm owner was doing them a favour. I wonder why they felt the need to write this unpleasant and sneering comment especially since according to the farm owner’s friend, the Walkers didn’t do much work on the farm.

I agree this is a bit of a filler but it does establish a pattern of behaviour

man worried about sick wife reads the book and it deeply impacts him so he reaches out. The walkers accept and do f all on the farm and lie about moths health to garner more sympathy. Then they write a pack of lies in a book. And when they are found out they run away.

I suspect she will come back with ‘we took on the farm not realising how much work it would be and with moths declining health we let things slide’

what Chloe h needs to do is focus on the money before and after the house loss and see if there was any more theft.

and the scans - that’s the next bit.

but pretending you have 2 months to live is quite disgusting and macabre tbh. He may well have a neurological condition but the lying about his condition is no better than people who fake cancer to raise money on gofundme

It's on the platform U.
Series 3, episode 2.

I wonder if they've convinced themselves of their lies.

Reasoned away their manipulations.

The newly released medical letters are odd ones to chose - nothing definitive or certain in them at all, only talking about Moth's self-disclosed symptoms and what a 'unique' case Moth is.

Interesting. So why has this happened then?

Bill strikes me as someone with sufficient means to help a couple who had struck an emotional chord. It is quite shocking to be told someone has months to live. No wonder he started to ask questions.

I wonder if all the emphasis on how Sally/Tim rewilded / transformed the farm was a way of deflecting any future criticism that they hadn’t kept their side of the bargain.

As CH approached Sally/Tim in March they’ve had opportunities in lots of interviews to shore up their ‘defence’ in advance.

I think it's worth pointing out that Bill only had suspicions when reading Landlines due to Moth's supposed miraculous recovery.

You've got to wonder why TWS didn't raise any doubts for Bill, given it talks about his smooth officer worker hands and overstates their rewilding and cider-making efforts. I suppose he just let the exaggerating and embellishment slide.

Another thought on why Moth burst into tears saying he only had until Christmas - didn't they need an excuse to go off walking and cycling "the spine of Britain' for 4 months, the basis of Landlines?

sualipa · Today 07:47
Despite his credentials as a savvy senior investment banker turned absent gentleman‑farmer, he seems to have offered them refuge without basic due diligence or a clear sense of what he expected in return an intriguing lapse, considering he’s hardly a vulnerable pensioner being duped by con‑artists

Sally Walker had hidden her theft and there was an NDA on it. I’m not sure what sort of due diligence the cider farm owner could’ve done in that respect.
According to the article ‘Bill, who lived in Sussex but visited Cornwall often, says the couple told him they wanted to be involved in tending the orchards, producing cider and rewilding the farm’ so presumably he expected them to do just that.