Thread 21 : To feel disappointed - and now disgusted too - after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

[DisappointedReader]

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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?

Thread 20: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5454438-thread-20-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 5 months we have done amazingly well together for 20 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. Our Cardboard Mascot Our Simon has had his head stuck back on and is wearing a very fetching tinsel boa. The charabanc is bedecked with fairy lights and very well stocked up. May the seasonal fudge and mulled cider be with you one and all. 🎅🌲🎁❄️🎄

These threads are the gifts that keep on giving:
New:

• Salt Path: A Very British Scandal, available from Monday 15th December Sky Documentaries and NOW TV
• ‘Don’t look for the money. I’ve taken it all’: Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s ‘confession’ that she stole from her family | The Observer

Up and coming:

• 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
• Podcast series from The Observer's award-winning Investigative Journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou
• BBC Documentary (NB Not involving Our Chloe)

*MNHQ correcting above 'Documentary' to 'Podcast' at request of author

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Oh thanks - that’s good to know. I saw it had been edited two days ago and wondered if the dates were part of the recent change - but if they’ve been there all along then hopefully they’ll stay there. (But I do wish more people would notice the discrepancy in the dates!)

@TonstantWeader Lots of love to the Wild Rovering Pooing Correspondent. My vile creature ate half something very dead yesterday on a walk and I am expecting Digestive Retribution today. @Freshsocks sorry my ire woke you! But you had dribbled into my cider and I got worked up all over again.

If nothing else, a release of OWH will be interesting, and I'd guess that is where they will set up their stall. A quiet launch without all the public appearances, and then see how it is received and take it from there. If there is no instant outrage, just a shrugging of shoulders and a 'oh, she's at it again', then I would not at all be surprised if more books aren't forthcoming. But she'll want to judge whether the faithful, misguided, gullible and just those who have no idea of the controversy outnumber the outraged, appalled and horrified. That will be the test, because if OWH sells to the faithful, it could still hit the best seller lists, especially if PRH put a bit of money behind getting it there...

Not sure if this has been posted here before but i hadn't seen it. Seems the agents who sorted the film rights have more decency than either PRH or GMC.

https://www.ki-agency.co.uk/post/our-thoughts-on-the-salt-path-allegations

This weekend, serious allegations against Raynor Winn and The Salt Path were raised by an exposé in the Observer. We are, of course, very saddened by these allegations, especially as we handled the film rights for this title on behalf of Raynor’s primary agents.
Most agents and publishers in the industry will have experience of allegations against their clients and understand how difficult it can be to ascertain the truth and decide what their next steps should be. This is harder for us as, with The Salt Path, we acted as sub-agents, relying on what we – and Raynor’s primary agents – have been told in good faith.
Although we’re just the film agents for this, we still feel emotionally involved. Even though our agency is not in a position to know the details of Raynor’s circumstances, we feel deeply grieved on behalf of all who have been involved in this and have suffered damage, and everyone who might feel disillusioned and disappointed.
If we receive more information we will update our stance on this matter. For the moment, we are asking the same questions you are.

I can still see OWH doing ok, along the lines of TWS.

I've asked myself if i'd read a copy if and when it comes out. i've no wish to line the pockets of the WWs but nevertheless, I think on balance the answer is yes.

Not because I think that a 10 day amble along part of the C2C in bleal midwinter sans Moth and staying in B and Bs is going to have much in the way of insight or literary merit but because I'd like to scrutinise it's claims, examine the back story, write an Amazon review and (if they make one of their perennial cameo appearances) try and track down the ever elusive Dave and Julie from Up North!

You could borrow it from the library (although they will get a tangential payment from PLR that way), borrow from a poor misguided friend or get it in a second hand shop. They won't benefit financially from that.

Apparently there are some online bookdealers who are signed up to Authorshare, a scheme to donate second-hand book royalties to authors via ALCS. World of Books was involved from the start. Litalist is also mentioned. It's a really good idea in terms of supporting the majority of authors but if one is wanting not to give a penny to others (the WWs are not the only ones I'm avoiding!) it might be worth investigating.
https://www.alcs.co.uk/authorshare/

They’ll be aware of that & prob manuscript altered already to any plug plot holes etc.

It’s possible she only did the odd day here & there, stayed in nice accom & came up with lots of rambling, winter themed, reflections.

Twitter/X lighting up here and there the more people watch the documentary and movie with incredulity.

So sorry for the dribbling in your cider, @Vroomfondleswaistcoat, it's just hearing the gentle bubbling of your delicious ire, it got me salivating, I was dreaming of Narnia, I was Edmund and Salray was the ice queen, I rode in her sleigh, but instead of giving me Turkish delight, she only had the same old hard cheese she's given everyone, I didn't divulge any charabanc secrets.

Ever since the dream, something has been on my mind, I don't know if we have a brave correspondent who can look into this, it's Tim's anal sphincter, they would need a good pair of sunglasses, Salray has noted numerous times that the sun shines from it, quite brightly by her accounts. It could come into the territory of the wild pooing correspondent, they might have seen it, but I don't want to burden them if they have been under the weather.

The doctor notes in the 2019 consultation that, 'Tim has a rather atypical disturbance of the anal sphincter function' does anyone know anymore about this? Is it mentioned in any of the books? please can someone shine a little light on this for me?

Unable to shine any light @Freshsocks, but I do wonder if like the alleged cardiac issue (sceptical, moi?) this alleged disorder is in fact completely separate from any alleged neurological symptoms. If a consultant considers it "rather atypical" this must be a possibility.

Having sprinkled alleged around plentifully, it is of course not impossible that Timoth has something wrong with him at this point. People in their 50s and 60s do, even the ones who look a picture of health on red carpets and are fit enough to plank on trig points. If there is cynicism about all aspects of their lives, it is what they've done to themselves.

Thank you @Uricon2, I didn't know if it was specifically mentioned, Ruth Saberton said she was shocked to read the pool of urine passage, when she read about it, so I wondered if Tim's anal spincter had been covered in more detail. There are numerous symptoms claimed in the medical letters, most seem to be atypical for CBD/CBS, If Tim has always had concerns about his health, he may view any minor health issue as a sign of something worse, when they are the usual things that afflict many people as they age and wear out.

I had hoped to book an online spot to hear Chloe's latest outing on Thursday, Jan 8th. But, every time I try to book a digital place I get this:

External API error

It goes through OK if I had wanted an in-person ticket. Has anyone found their way around this, please? I have tried several times and on about 4 different days.

Ruth Saberton was referencing the first chapter of Landlines, I believe. “Moth” had not been able to make it to the toilet and in her efforts to help him they both got tangled in a rug and soaked with his wee. This was her entree into the next big walking decision and probably a load of bollocks but it led the reader to despair on their behalf. It was laid on so damned thick. Of course Ruth was confused and unable to equate what she’d been reading with Tim in real life.

Looking at that photo of them for the film premiere I assume, Sally looks radiant and beaming and he seems completely at ease too and very happy with his hair styled to look like two fluffy moth antennae. Sally has received calls from Chloe by this point, so her countenance is particularly interesting to me.

@HatStickBoots Sally has received calls from Chloe by this point, so her countenance is particularly interesting to me.

I also wondered how she was carrying off the insouciance around the film premiere when she must already have known the game was up. But then I thought she probably thought that she could 'buy off' Chloe; that she'd fall for the 'I'll meet and talk to you but only if you sign a NDA'. Or that the threats of her lawyers would be enough to stop it all. I think she probably underestimated how much CH had against her, maybe thinking that the Hemmings NDA would still apply.

I think she’s never felt the game is up! She believes her fiction to be fact & we’ve all got the wrong end of the stick.

Sorry you are having tech problems @BemusingBrandy, I hope someone can help you with that :)

Thank you @HatStickBoots, I wondered if Salray had written anything dramatic that alluded to Tim having a problem with his bum. In the 2015 consultation, Tim tells the neurologist that before his problems started he was functionally ambidextrous, does anyone remember Salray writing about this, maybe referencing it in his qualities as a youth?

I don't know how Salray has dealt with any of this @Vroomfondleswaistcoat, she could have been thinking that threats of lawyers would be enough and the non disclosure worked before. But as time has gone on and Salray hasn't shifted her position, @PinkPanther57 could be right and Salray is so deluded that she doesn't see that she has done anything wrong.

styled to look like two fluffy moth antennae.

I cannot tell you @HatStickBoots how very tempted I am to get gel and make that my NYE Look.

It does imply a huge degree of overconfidence (hubris) that can mean you can grin at at a film premiere when you know an investigative journalist is asking questions. Did Salray really think she could make Chloe go away or was she really deluded enough to have started believing her own lies? Whichever, the last several months, including the fact that their families were prepared to speak out, must have had some kind of effect. Surely?

No way of knowing with that pair, as ever. There is something very off kilter indeed with people who have that number of skeletons rattling away and are still prepared to 'smile and smile and be a villain'.

in her efforts to help him they both got tangled in a rug and soaked with his wee (again thanks @HatStickBoots ) this just hit me. As someone who has been providing 24/7 care for years now, this sort of incident wouldn't even register on the scale of Bad Things. If I wanted to be charitable, I'd say it was a one off to have provoked such alarm because that sort of thing and much worse is part of daily life for very many carers and those they care for.

This doesn't mean I think it actually happened of course.

You can contact them at members at observer dot co dot UK, which is what I did when I had different technical issues.
They were helpful

Oh @Uricon2, you will have to give the look a go :)

I have been looking at the premier publicity again @HatStickBoots, I am useless at linking anything, but there was an interview with Salray (Cornish times, daily motion, Newquay premier) it was mentioned long ago and I can't remember who posted it, but Salray is being interviewed from the red carpet at Newquay, she is talking about how the film is adapted from the book, Salray talks about Ray and Moth almost as fictional characters.

Moth has a problem with his left shoulder and arm, according to his medical consultations, he is often photographed with his left hand in his pocket, this is the same in most of the red carpet photos, except when he is in photographed with Elizabeth Karlsen, he has no problem with putting his left arm around her waist, I wonder what Salray made of that, particularly if he had been instructed to keep in character at all times.

Thank you - I have emailed them. You are going to the in-person aren't you?... I wouldn't have had a problem booking that but I'm over 200 miles west of London.

If I can't listen in .. I must say the live feedback from last year's delegation was excellent (no pressure 💖)

No one has mentioned this on these threads:

And while it was weird to see “Ray and Moth” having sex on screen in the knowledge that the real deal was in the room, it was great talking to Moth afterwards

?

The Salt Path: From Page to Premiere on Cornwall’s Coast

I agree @BemusingBrandy, I didn't realise that the film has a sex scene, what the heck, which position do they use? the missionary would be too conventional and stressful on Tim's wrists I would have thought, I suppose cowgirl would be best for Tim and easy for Salray as the daughter of a herdsman :)

I was EATING!

Then I had to go and find something nice and bland to stare at for an hour until those images went away!

Thanks @BemusingBrandy

i liked the last sentence of the article best: "For him ["Moth"], the film evoked “the freedom, the smell of the sea and the roar of the wind – and not having to go back to work on Monday”.

I dunno, I log on late pm and find myself in the midst of Sex People talk <channels Alan Partridge> and musings about 'Tim's anal sphincter' which is tbh not a phrase I ever thought I'd be typing. Pass the fainting couch, milady....

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat thanks for the good wishes for the Correspondent. More tests tomorrow after which we should know more. Keep your fingers crossed. Obvs what I should do is drag the poor beast on a 630 mile walk. That'd cure him. Do him in, more like!

I'm still on the fence about whether on not OWH will in fact be published or not. I think if it is, it'll be snuck out late night without any fanfare or review copies, just to avoid newspapers and social media giving a rerun of all the facts which have emerged since July. Or it might just be quietly binned off a la Fergie.