Thread 19: 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's original exposé: The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...

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

Links to threads 2-16, the other 20 Observer articles and videos to date, Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement, our timeline and sources can all be accessed in the OP and first few posts of Thread 17: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5403285-thread-17-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

Thread 18: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5422393-thread-18-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

New posters joining us in the genuine spirit of our civil discourse are welcome. It would be helpful to get the background from at least some of the Observer exposé items before posting.
To all - Please be extremely cautious when it comes to naming or implicating people and addresses not in the public eye or with no direct connection to the story, and around the understandable health speculations, especially where details are unclear or still emerging. Remember, even Hollywood rabbits attract the odd flea. Please do not engage with drive-by scolders who seem to have their own agenda and seek to derail. Avoid @'ing and quoting them as - from experience - this will only encourage them back to the threads. Over four months we have done amazingly well together for 18 very interesting, very serious and very silly threads so far. I can't be here as much as I'd like so all help with keeping our discussion walking along in our usual reasonable and respectful fashion is very welcome.

Keep to the path. No saltiness. May the fudge and cider be with you.

"I'll fight anyone who says I'll make it to Christmas 2021!"

Doesn't much depend what does or does not come out from CH's Sky documentary and any subsequent podcasts by other media outlets? She's going to look pretty damned foolish if she tries to reiterate her rebuttal statement in OWH and new stuff emerges which shows, beyond reasonable doubt, that she is telling a pack of lies.

If I was in SW's shoes I'd been tempted to bin OWH and start again. I suspect that a lot of what she has written is pre CH's bombshell revelations and will therefore be severely tarnished.

On the other hand, if she was to write a new book with a full mea culpa telling the story of The Real Salt Path in her own words and re-walking sections of it, now that is a book that might do quite well!

Is she capable of this? Hmmm. Not sure.

I think if OWH is released, which it could be as @Vroomfondleswaistcoat says, Salray hasn't done anything illegal in writing these books, so OWH could still go ahead, I have also wondered @HumoursofBandon what state of mind Salray is in and how that will figure in the book having any rewriting, the blurb for ordering advanced signed copies of OWH, on one site reads, 'Navigating harsh weather and tangled emotions, Raynor reflects on the mountains they've climbed. Her journey becomes a meditation on our connection to the land.'

That feels like Salray has carte blanche to write whatever she wishes, the rewrite could become another rebuttal, mixed with plenty of spite against those mean people who question her truth. But as @NaughtyNoodler has just pointed out, this will depend on what further revelations might come out, it will be very interesting to see what happens after the documentary has aired, will PRH still be supportive?

Call me cynical, but if PRH still think SW can make them money, why wouldn't they be inclined to publish her mea culpa. If you look at the resources that were originally deployed by PRH to promote TSP (slick marketing, AH cover design, Waterstones bunting et al vs the non existent due diligence) you'd have to suspect that they decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.... What is going to change once the media storm has died down?

I tend to agree @NaughtyNoodler, sadly with what has already been revealed about Salray, which is pretty damning, PRH have stuck by her. I was just pondering how much money have they already invested into OWH, it is after all seemingly, all about the money.

I think things like this, if they don't go away pretty quickly, have a habit of reaching critical mass. Our Chloe didn't leave it after the Observer articles and I doubt Sky would be funding a documentary that just rehashes stuff everyone already knows. Even if it does, it is going to generate publicity about the investigation more surely than legacy journalism coverage and a casual viewer who isn't as invested in the scandal as us might well view it and form their own opinions.

Saying clumsily that I wouldn't be surprised if PRH are waiting to see the docu and assess the fallout before any final decisions.

Agree it is all about the money for those who have already made a considerable amount. For readers surely there is now a considerable gap in how they were marketed and the reality?

She was going more towards the spiritual, oneness with nature, wellness. Whereas in reality she is a proven con artist and thief?

There are still quite a lot of SW fans out there who need their Moth fix - how is he doing? The literary merit of the book comes a distant second in some people's minds!

I think your right @Uricon2 the CEO of PRH describes himself as a gambler, that's what he's doing now, waiting and watching, assessing the odds before he finally places his bet.
That's a very good point @BecalmedBrandy all of this does not sit well with spirituality or the whole ethos of oneness.

Have you been able to find any quantity of fan's online @NaughtyNoodler? I have tried looking, I haven't had a good search yet. I agree there are people who have become really invested, it interests me to know how many of them are still waiting.

I think there are the True Believers (and I so wish I could stop the words 'be' and 'kind' being used together the beta blockers clearly haven't kicked in yet) Nothing is going to sway them, but there must be a much larger number of people who read the book but didn't see the Observer etc coverage.

If it's said 'on the telly' (and with associated other media coverage of it, which there will be) I think it might be a different matter.

The main reason I hope it is is because of the dangerous climate we live in around truth and the lack of it. Read something today about a TikTok influencer who was outed as having run a cancer scam JustGiving some years before her fame. Her mea culpa seems to have resulted in her losing about 1K followers out of 540K (and has seemingly made her even more money)

A bit more outrage about lies would serve society well, IMO, in terms of repeatedly calling stuff out and not going along with manipulative nonsense.

Judging by the initial response on social media to CH's revelations in the Observer I suspect that there are still an awful lot of TSP fans out there whose reasoning goes as follows: 1). I enjoyed the book 2) I don't care whether its true or not 3) There are more important things going on in the world, so lay off Sal

That could change IMO if the documentary has enough detail, evidence and it is widely reported elsewhere. People don't like being taken for fools, on the whole, a good number will stick their heads in the sand until they can't anymore, but they will turn eventually.

I imagine there are many stories Chloe H could be working on but there must be a reason why she's stuck with this one.

@HumoursofBandon "I can imagine trying to get SW to rewrite OWH could be like one of the labours of Hercules." Like trying to clean out the Augean stables, perhaps?

Good point, however, I wouldn't assume that everybody is even aware that there is something of a scandal surrounding TSP. I kid you not! There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the Observer is not widely read and there are large numbers of people out there who have zero idea that TSP isn't a 100% true story. Fwiw the comments about the film (below) were made about a week ago!

If OWH still gets published, it will look as though PRH are supporting the author’s claims throughout the other three books and with their endorsement again I’m concerned that people will buy it believing the content to be true even if it is a lot of hokum about Tim’s illness and full of overblown emotions supposedly caused by his imminent death.
Neither have been seen in public since the film premiered. You’d think that if Moth/Tim was really suffering, he wouldn’t be reclusive. The words in that SM post are really heartfelt. That woman (Helen Halley) is really reaching out and she’s not the only one. So why hasn’t he ever responded or thanked these well wishers or told them the truth? The pair of them made his illness and their relationship very public and he seemed happy in the limelight up until a few months ago. I think he has a responsibility to these people. The silence just tells me that we are right. I’m sorry that some still believe. As I said, it’s a shame that PRH will be sending out the message that these people and the words in the books are harmless and true.

Salray will profit financially, most likely, even if as you say @Uricon2 , it is after a scandal, truth seems to be becoming a fluid thing in society and there will be people who don't care. I am hoping like you that after the documentary people will be able to see that the health claims are false, it might stop her from being able to continue down that path ever again. I don't know what else she might write, but please no more health advice.

I have encountered these very responses you describe@NaughtyNoodler, when I've talked about TSP scandal, I have been surprised by some peoples feelings about it, I think in an earlier post, a bit unkindly, I said that I was using it as an empathy gauge, but I always focus on the health claims made about the walking. We have focused a lot on this in earlier threads.

There are all sorts of things going on in the world and people doing terrible things. In the greater scheme of things this story is of minimal important. The message that this book sends out in relation to illness and disability is a dangerous one. It can be used by others to reinforce what they say, or do, I agree with your post @HatStickBoots .

There are always going to be terrible things happening in the world and apart from voting or protesting, there isn’t anything we can do to change that. We can only seek to make our own lives good, better, happier and by doing what we can to help others. Sal and Tim or rather Ray and Moth added their voice to those who feel the same way about the natural world and our environment… or so we thought or were asked to believe. I believe their message is damaging and as others have said previously, when you pick it apart and look at the reality you see all sorts of hypocrisies and self righteousness that does not belong in this sphere…. That’s before you even acknowledge the downright lies!

Allow me to share the most perceptive comment ever on all of this. It was before I joined in this thread. That knowledge makes it so powerful:

below shared by me 18/08/25)
(Betty91 · 10/07/2025 12:27)

I think your opinion on all this depends on whether you've had the misfortune to cross paths (no pun intended) with these casual and prolific liars. I have, so can only see this story through that lens. She follows the exact MO of people I know who have been found out - lies a bit more, apologises in a way that makes it feel cruel to hold her accountable, cries, minimises, gets a bit righteous, deflects & plays victim. The one thing I have learnt from people like this is they will sweep it all under the rug like nothing happened - but they never learn or take responsibility & will lie about anything & everything. I feel sorry for the people out of pocket because of her - less sorry for the publishers & everyone who made money - but most sorry for the people who were given false hope about their unwell loved ones.)
^^

@HatStickBoots "If OWH still gets published, it will look as though PRH are supporting the author’s claims throughout the other three books".

PRH are supporting her claims in TSP, at least. The PRH website (which could presumably be corrected in about 5 minutes if a decision to do so were taken) still markets TSP on the basis that it is an "honest ... true story". (And they put out a statement of support, although IIRC that was of the author rather than specifically of the author's claims.)

As @NaughtyNoodler has found there will always be people who are going to believe what has already been published by Salray, harm has been done, it will remain as miss information that will keep on being regurgitated. People with neurological and other conditions that are not helped by walking (even harmed) will have to suffer people asking them if they have heard of TSP and suggesting that they go on a long walk. It would be helpful to those people, if the wider public were to know that these claims were false along with all the other lies. The false hope is the cruelest of things @BecalmedBrandy that was a really good piece.

All that you said @HatStickBoots about the way Raynor and Moth were embraced by the people, within communities of people, that really do believe in the issues that Salray wrote about, people who do want to promote a simpler, fairer world that cares more about people and the environment, this deception is relevant to those people and they too deserve truth. So many people need to know the truth.

😀😀

I believe their message is damaging and as others have said previously, when you pick it apart and look at the reality you see all sorts of hypocrisies and self righteousness that does not belong in this sphere

As @HatStickBoots says it's this. It isn't enough not to be Putin (or any other bad actor of choice) which the whole "there are worse things going on in the world " schtick promotes. Of course there are, but it doesn't make her/their behavour right and it contributes to the whole languid malaise about actually what does matter, which is frankly dangerous.

They are probably deciding what conditions and miracle cures they are deciding to inflict on themselves and their family members.

So Salray join Reform and get Farage to blame all their problems on immigrants and the lying woke media led by the pinko Observer.