Thread 7: 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

Fourth item in The Observer
‘I felt I was being gaslit’ – the landlord who helped Ray...

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?

Thread 5 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

Thread 6
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5372494-thread-6-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

New posters welcome. It would be helpful to read at least the four Observer items above before posting.

To all - Please be careful when it comes to naming or implicating people and addresses not in the public eye or with no connection to the story, and around the understandable health speculations, especially where details are unclear or still emerging. Please do not engage with possible visitors who seem to have their own agenda and seek to derail.
Keep on the path as we have done together amazingly well for six threads so far. No saltiness. Thank you.

I think you're right. Chloe H's bosses might feel anything is better than nothing though, so it could be something fairly light and does run that risk.

I hope it isn't. I hope it's something fresh and not more of the same.

The Observer doesn’t have a monopoly on conducting in-depth desk research into the story, but aside from the initial follow-up to their scoop, very little has been added to the conversation.

It’s now well established in the public domain that the Winn/Walkers are somewhat disreputable, with a history of questionable actions and a tendency to be disingenuous in the way they’ve presented their experiences. Their books appear to have been artistically embellished rather than offering strictly factual, blow-by-blow accounts of their journeys.

This will almost certainly affect both current and future sales, and the brand has undoubtedly suffered damage. I suspect that, for most people, the moment has passed the media circus has moved on, there’s little more to uncover, and public appetite for further revelations is likely minimal. My guess is: we’re nearly done here. There's still fishing expeditions going on though !

As we have a brand new thread ready to go and are finishing this one.

Simon Armitage's agent "We've noticed an increased amount of internet traffic with your name. Most of it seems to be on..Mumsnet".

SA "Oh great! Are they talking about my latest book?"

Agent "Erm. No. It seems to be mostly about TSP, and.."

SA "That book with the guy who was always 'hilariously' getting mistaken for me even though he looks nothing like me?!"

Agent " Erm. Yes"

SA (sadly) "Nothing about the poems, then?"

Agent "No... but they're generally pretty positive about you, even if you do have the male equivalent of resting bitch face in photos".

SA "I bet John Dryden never had these problems".

My guess is: we’re nearly done here

That's my guess too, unless something spectacular is unearthed.

I do think the Observer on Sunday will be more of the same, but I'd like to be wrong.

I don't think anything would create the shock waves of the first set of revelations.

The first I heard of this story was when Thread 1 came up in Active. I'd never heard of the book, let alone the film.

I've been skimming along through all the threads, lurking, not really having anything to contribute and getting lost in some of the detail (did Tim tell his relative that Sally had taken out credit cards in his name in an effort to cajole this man into lending them money to pay the Hemmings back? Said relative is more likely to cough up if it's a blood relative who appears to be in trouble rather than the relative's wife, even if it's the wife who has done the thing that gets the relative in trouble. Might this explain the "no relative of mine is going to prison" comment? He might of course have been describing Sally, but perhaps more likely Tim, who would be the one more obviously in trouble if that debt was in his name? Or has this been resolved/explained and I've missed it along the way?!)

Then it occurred to me that I've encountered Sally and Tim IRL. It was in an ice cream parlour in Cornwall. I think it was 2021 but I can't be sure. I have a second home there (yes I know certain Mumsnet social death at this point) and I know the woman who runs the place. There was suddenly quite a lot of excitement at the counter with two customers in their fifties who looked like hill walkers. Comments such as "Oh it is you, my mum loved your book..." and so on. Talk of their next/current walk. After they'd gone the waitress told me they'd lost all their money, he was ill, they'd lived homeless walking all around the rural south west, and she'd written a book about it. I'd forgotten this entirely as pretty inconsequential but it suddenly came back to me. All I can remember is they seemed quite quiet and reserved, and were stuffing their faces with ice cream!

Maybe TSP should be renamed 500 Mile Porkies ...

Speaking of the Reddit hiking thread, which somebody mentioned upthread, I noticed a certain Observer journalist has been posting on there within the last couple of days asking posters to get in touch with her on her work email. Looks like the next exposé is going to centre on how much of the actual walk they did if any ...

"Maybe TSP should be renamed 500 Mile Porkies" - genius!!

There are over 10 million prescriptions for Pregabalin issued on the UK every year so getting on for a million patients are taking Pregabalin. We don’t know the number of patients who stop each year but it must be a large number.

I just had another thought so putting it out there...given the "under the stairs, bailiffs-a-knocking" scenario probably didn't happen (based on thread discussion) does this also cast doubt on how SW claims she first thought of walking the SWCP?

I now wonder if the idea may have actually been as cover to buy time from the inevitable shame and confession to the children that they'd lost their house.

There are some pieces of evidence that would support this.

• SW writes in TSP on a number of occasions in dramatic fashion she'd made her children homeless, so clearly something on her mind when writing.

• A post the son made on FB two days before the one about surfing with his dad in July 2013 (post eviction) said he hadn't seen his parents for 7 months, which would fall around Christmas 2012. This to me is unusual because if l knew my childhood home was being repossessed, I'd being going back there before it happened, not only to give moral to support my parents, but to say farewell and most likely collect what possessions I still had there. I think it's fair to say most people who go off to study don't fully move out from their parents' home, and we can see one of the bedrooms in the ETTC tv clip still looks like it could have belongings in it.

• In Dec 2013, the son posted about looking forward to going home to Wales for Christmas but in the comments in response to friends back in Wales, it turns out, to his dismay, his plans change and he won't be in Wales afterall. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean he thought he was going home to the farm...it could have been a nearby relative or family friend we don't know about. But it's curious.

Deciding to walk the SWCP would be a great cover story to at least buy time. "Oh we've decided to go off walking for a few months". Of course, they could have said the house sold, and the children likely knew this was a possibility due to it being on TV. But the problem with that would be explaining why Raymoth haven't bought or rented somewhere else.

Not conclusive of course, but worth consideration in trying to decipher what really happened.

😀😀

I wonder if she's been reading these threads, I bet when you search for TSP they come up, and she's got a head start on some things as a result.

@Uricon2 I've got to ask, were you prompted to did buy Simon Armitage's book because he's been talked about so much on here?!

Do you know what the reddit link is? Curious to see it.

I really like him as a poet ( even got a signed copy of I think his Jubilee Laureate poem) but haven't read his prose. These threads definitely gave me a big nudge! 😂

Oh, I hadn’t noticed that. Though I derived great enjoyment from various takedowns of fake LD walking claims.

(I have actually returned to Simon Armitage’s poetry, though what it’s chiefly reminded me of is why I don’t read his work a lot as it’s really not my thing.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/UKhiking/comments/1lt3m8e/the_salt_path_controversy/

Whereabouts has she posted on the thread there?

She's posted several times, responding to other posters - all showing as 2 days ago.

ETA: It's quite a long thread, so you have to expand on some of the other repliers to find her.

I'll look harder! 😆

I think the walk makes more sense in the context of a choice made by somebody who had previously disappeared.

I think the theft incident was in 2007/8, so if the children were university age in 2013 they might have been GCSE/A-level when that happened? It sounds as though things had felt precarious for a long time.

Found the posts. Is that really her, or some random pretending?

I guess they're doing good pointing posters to her email, but I'm a bit dubious otherwise.

Just a reminder, Thread 8 is here:

Thread 8: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet https://share.google/GhaTC37jUTAolObar

I've looked at all comments and it seems they've also posted on the South West Coast Path subreddit asking for information.

Maybe Oprah😀

I imagine if they did do an interview they would want to "guide the truth", so would only allow supportive people to be present