Thread 20 : 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?

Thread 19: www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5437058-thread-19-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 and ploppers 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 five months we have done amazingly well together for 19 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.

Up and coming:

• Salt Path: A Very British Scandal, Monday 15th December 9pm Sky Documentaries and NOW
• Sunday Papers Live, The Real Salt Path with Chloe Hadjimatheou, Sunday 7th December (see image below for tickets and further details)
• Observer Newsroom: The Real Salt Path Story, Thursday 8th January 2026 6.30-7.30pm. More information and to book via this link observer.co.uk/our-events/the-real-salt-path-story

It's so true @Vroomfondleswaistcoat, there is no empathy for others, lots of readers excused this, saying that they put Salray's attitude down to the bitterness that she was feeling because of the terrible injustice of her situation. The aggressive nature of her writing belies the finding comfort and peace in walking, the piece@BegazingBrandy quotes is a good example of Salray's uncaring attitude, and the fact she says that the door closed before Moth's foot could stop it, I'm sure they are not adverse to pushing and bullying their way through life, when the charm doesn't work.

Thank you for sharing the comment by Patricia Chaplin. It is good to see someone else who was struck by the appalling attitude. I always feel encouraged by the readers who were taken in but are able to revisit it - it is not them who should be disappointed in themselves. We do not go around suspecting that such a conventional couple lie and cheat on this level.

Yes, agree with everything. The only way for any reader to tolerate all those shining examples of her personality were the underlying tragedies and the ramped up histrionics. The tragedies were the foundations, the histrionics were contrived to make the reader believe in her and the make-believe stuff has been discovered. Naturally without these elements you’re left with the reality of Sally and Tim Walker.

In a lot of instances she writes about Moth as being quite a soft natured, laissez faire sort of fellow who is kind and considerate, someone who has an easy charm and dislike of conflict. There’s an incident in LL where some youths start breaking branches from trees and building a fire very close to the back of their tent to ward off midges. Ray and Moth are very disturbed by this, very worried. Moth tries to intervene, making light of it by telling them he’d be “toast” if the fire catches their tent. The youths refuse to put out the fire and so Ray and Moth squirm uncomfortably and anxiously until the rain puts out the fire. Ray then uses this opportunity to share her feelings about people and the land, philosophising about the state of the world. I often got the impression that Ray is the driving force behind this couple, the assertive, decision maker and that Moth follows alongside relying on his charm and easy manner while Ray hides behind him like a puppeteer. I don’t know if the scene I mention actually happened or if it was inspired by a scene from “Nuts in May”.

I am not sure what the etiquette is by posting a thread from gransnet on mn but it seems too pertinent not to.

It began days before the Observer exposé so it is interesting to see how people felt both before the fraud came to light and when the story hit.

https://www.gransnet.com/forums/tvradiofilmarts/1348653-The-Salt-Path-The-Film

Of particular note is this champion of RayMoth just 2 days before the story broke. Feels like it could have been written by Ray herself.

Outcast52 05/06/2025

I'm absolutely stunned and disgusted by the number of thoroughly unpleasant posts on this thread - pious, superior, judgemental, critical - not an ounce of sympathy, empathy or compassion, and in some instances, sceptical, cynical and disbelieving. I suspect many of these carping voices have never read the book and just leapt on the "middle class, professional scroungers" bandwagon.

This couple bought an old, run-down farm and gradually rebuilt and refurbished it into a beloved home where they brought up their family. Via a combination of circumstances, they lost it, fought tenaciously but ultimately unsuccessfully to right the injustices and keep their home and many of these posters simply roll their eyes, label them stupid or arrogant or too mean to pay for legal advice and "brought all this misfortune on themselves". They DID seek legal advice and actually spent all their savings on solicitors' fees - obviously to no avail. Owing to a recent change in the law, there was no access to legail aid for a barrister, so Raynor had no option but to try and defend herself in court. She made one simple error of timing / admin request: how many of us would have the capacity, in those circumstances, to navigate the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the legal / justice system, but of course it was all their own fault! So were they supposed to just say "Oh silly us, ok take our home"?

At almost the same time, they received the devastating diagnosis of Moth's incurable condition. But of course they must have exaggerated, given up too easily, maybe even lied. They couldn't possibly have been so shattered and broken, sent from pillar to post by a deeply unhelpful benefits and housing system that they simply didn't know what to do and fled, in a sense.

How dare you look down on them for "stealing a chocolate bar"? "I hope they went back and paid for it" someone opined. Which of us would not do the same if we were desperate to survive? Does anyone think there might be the slightest chance that those businesses have benefitted hugely from the success of Raynor's book and this new film? Might there have been a massive influx of tourists boosting the economy of that whole region, including the victims of the great chocolate robbery?

And by the way, Raynor wrote the account of their epic journey as a memento for Moth, not in some kind of cynical, grasping decision to make a fortune out of their misfortune. They received great kindness from strangers and dispensed it themselves, even with the little they had.

Raynor has done a huge amount for the homeless in this country, raising awareness and lobbying for change and has donated a good deal of money to associated charities. The despicable attitudes to her and Moth and what they suffered, survived and have achieved are shameful. I hope to goodness that none of you ever have to deal with similar and I hope to God that she never reads this site.

Wow @SimoArmo - I wish I could find an appropriate emoji with which to respond. Sounds so much like the arch glumwasher herself, as you suggested.

And as we count down the hours, the Guardian lists the documentary in their bumper guide to the best of Christmas TV 😊

It's difficult to be entirely sure about Moth @HatStickBoots, we only have what Salray says about him, people have said that he is easy going and charming, but he is in cahoots with Salray, he has emotionally manipulated people directly for his own advantage, he just does it in a more charming way than Salray. It is his medical condition that Salray has exploited and he has gone along with it, he knew he wasn't given a terminal diagnosis when they had their house repossessed.

It is going to be interesting to see what the documentary reveals about Moth, will the relatives be able to give more insight? I do think Salray is probably the bully out of the pair, she definitely doesn't have the same capacity to charm as Moth. But I think they must be in it together, it would not have worked otherwise, unless Salray convinced Tim his condition was terminal, but I think he would have realised by now that he isn't dead :)

@Freshsocks But I think they must be in it together, it would not have worked otherwise, unless Salray convinced Tim his condition was terminal, but I think he would have realised by now that he isn't dead :)

Has anyone seen him lately? Although I suppose if anything had happened to Tim, Sal would have been shouting about it as proof that he'd been ill all along.

Even if he'd died of electrocution, in Sal's world it would be 'proof'.

Not sure if it's been posted before, but the article below attempts to explain why pathological liars continue lying.

It's for that reason that I suspect that after the Sky documentary airs, Sal is going to come out swinging and deny all culpability.

Whatever new claims CH makes in the documentary, I fear that the tactics deployed in her rebuttal statement (obfuscation/victimhood/partial truths) will again be deployed.

I hope I'm wrong but I suspect that the chances of Sal engaging in a heartfelt mea culpa are near zero.

Mistakes were made - by the media but not by me... I was just subject to heinous lies and vitriol.

Why Pathological Liars Keep Lying | Psychology Today

Nobody has seen them out and about @Vroomfondleswaistcoat, at least not in public that we know of (maybe they are not even in this country) I don't wish Moth any harm, I'm glad that he probably hasn't got CBD, he is in his sixties, we are all wearing out somewhat by our sixties, I just hope Salray isn't starving him so that she can wheel him out all emaciated, as some posters have speculated.

The review you posted @SimoArmo made me laugh, it did read like Salray wrote it. Those that accuse the sceptical forget that the experiences described by Salray are not unique to just them, don't these people realise that those of us who have been through similar experiences to Raymoth can see how phoney what she says is :)

Enjoying the irony of the Salt Path book being advertised by Mumsnet in one of the ad spots in this thread 🤣

I love the name @justpassmethemouse, people keep mentioning the adverts, presumably they will stop when the paid for advertising comes to an end. I don't suppose MN is going to refuse to put out the adverts that have been bought and paid for, even if they conflict with a thread, which is ironic.
I don't notice any of the adverts myself, I'm so intent on reading what the next post says :)

Better that it’s advertised here (to little avail) than elsewhere and it encourages someone to buy it!

I also hope the doc gives us some clues about Moth. As bad as each other? Secret puppeteer to an enthralled SalRay? Or beleaguered puppet of SalRay the evil genius?

Hwaet! 2 more sleeps.

I had a read of the Gransnet thread (thanks @SimoArmo ) and I think the discovery of the CCJs between 2011 and 2014 had passed me by. I know such things can happen to the best of people because of lost jobs etc but here it seems part of a bigger picture, of course.

I agree. I was only referring to the way in which she portrays him in her books and wondering why. He must have his adopted persona the same way as she does, but with her the Sally slips through because she’s the author. We don’t get to see Tim in the books.
It doesn’t matter of course .. not now anyway.

Nuts In May! Wonder why that hasn't been mentioned before. Or maybe it has. A great film. I'll never be able to unsee Nuts when thinking about our intrepid couple.

We need to chat....

I know what you mean @HatStickBoots, I was agreeing with you (clumsily) that we only have Salray's narrative about Tim, I didn't think you were letting him off the hook :)

It will be interesting to know more about the real Tim, we only have what Salray says, as you pointed out he is always portrayed in a more than favourable light, what will we find out about the real Tim?

First poet laureate with a shed?

And I remember that comment that Moth's nephew James made on Linkedin that made it sound like they were both as bad as each other (just can't find the actual phrasing).

"my uncle and aunt are pathological liars who leave a trail of destruction in their wake"?

Is he having to live in this shed after having his house cruelly repossessed, or is he just rubbing our noses in it? Probably eats scones and a full English in there as well.

The modern poet laureate needs a manshed apparently!

@LetsBeSensible I can confirm it is painful-very painful- when you snort a Saturday night G&T down your nose.