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]

NO POSTS PLEASE UNTIL THREAD 20 IS FULL

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

NO POSTS PLEASE UNTIL THREAD 20 IS FULL

Scarily accurate…

Later

‘What happens if they guess? I am a bit worried he’s got a bit of a conscience…I know! I’ll send him out to the shops for supplies when they call! They’ll never guess, they might question? What gall! It’s not as if we don’t deserve all this!’

Just re-read the 2015 consultant letter and noticed the sentence in the attached pic. No mention of any other test results. The 2015 letter very much reads as the first tentative diagnosis of CBS, but even then isn't absolutely definitive.

The 2019 letter mentions the dopamine depletion on the datscan. There are several things that can cause that though. It also says that the consultant hadn't seen Tim for several years, which would be odd if they thought it was normal CBS.

This is correct @ThisQuirkyRaven, we have established many anomalies in these letters, I have also been studying them, along with other posters, they are very interesting and clearly show that this is Tim's first consultation, the scan and eye test results, can both have other causes. Tim would have been seen usually at six monthly intervals by the consultant if his condition was more concerning, otherwise annual review with GP.

Yeah apologies if I'm going over old ground @Freshsocks. It's all rather exciting having people to discuss this with as the long-suffering other half has zero interest 🤣. Infact, I think I actively annoyed him when I said he couldn't go and play magic as he was needed on child duty next Thursday evening while I attend the observer meeting 🎊. I'm not even sure why I find it so fascinating. Unlike others on here, I'm not an author. I'm a mere science teacher, although that would explain my need for the truth I suppose.

I'm very pleased you are interested in all this@ThisQuirkyRaven, sorry if I didn't convey that, I'm not an author either, my spelling and grammatical errors, testify to that. CH is aware of all the things that we are aware of, maybe not some of the things that we have made (wild) theories about, she is going to expose this. I don't know when, it might be the final thing, exposing this lie could be potentially damaging to some people's careers, it could have repercussions beyond Salray. I understand your desire for the truth and your interest, so glad that you have joined us :)

This sounds absolutely intriguing and as though you know a lot more about what CH is up to!

By the way @ThisQuirkyRaven, we spend a lot of time going over old ground, on these threads, we have gone over some things for months, then suddenly, someone realises something new. For instance @SimoArmo realised that Tim did not mention walking the SWCP in his medical history in 2015 (if he walked in 2013 it would be relevant) or his intention to walk again, none of us had thought about it and the letters had been looked at for months.

I don't have any special insight @IvyGoldenM, I should have said that I am pretty sure, sorry if mistakes were made, my feeling is, that CH has the same medical letters as us and she has access to a neurologist, they will have gone over the letters and given CH an opinion, especially the neurologist who appeared in the documentary, CH will be pursuing this, how can she not?

He’s been peddling that imminent death sentence for a very long time.
Did that conversation with the surfers back at their camp really exist or was it pure fiction, I wonder?
The “careful on the stairs” advice was used in a derogatory way all through TSP because Walker wanted the reader to witness Ray’s anger and denial about beloved Moth’s condition. She wrote Moth’s character as being quite meek and broken and Ray, a heroine whose folly actually cures him. The doctor is a villain. If they followed his advice, Moth would surely die.

@Freshsocks I’d missed that! Re: @SimoArmo observation! Thank you.

This, for me anyway, is up there in ‘canoe 2’ territory. It’s not just holiday games & high jinks, fudging & a bit of privacy protection/poetic licence!

That first book prize…Grrr…It’s worse than that, though.

The more I think about it the more confident I become they saw an opportunity & cooked this up. They looked for plot holes & tried to plug gaps retrospectively.

Whereas in TWS (12. Light) she says "we still travelled north to see the same consultant, a journey every six months that led us back to Wales," This is also where she describes the first datscan and comes just after the chapter where she gifts "lightly salted blackberries" to Tim.

It does seem that way @PinkPanther57, it's just incredible how many people they deceived, the reason I said that I thought careers could be damaged @IvyGoldenM, is a way back it was established, as far as we could, that the consultant who gave Tim the tentative diagnosis in 2015, is the same consultant as the 2019 and 2025 consultations, if he is also the consultant who reviewed TSP, it raises questions that could be difficult for him to answer, if he gets asked them, was he hoodwinked by the Walkers, what was going on?

Thank you. Can anyone link to consultant's review - what did he say? And when did he say it?

Just scrolled through salray's Instagram page. Dates on this post may be of interest

I am terrible with the dates @PinkPanther57, I think it was 2019, please someone correct me if I am wrong, the review is no longer available to read, the other reviews are, someone might have captured it in the past.

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250223232710/acnr.co.uk/book-review/the-salt-path/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Salt Path | ACNR

Tim is always telling people he is dying.

Thank you @ThisQuirkyRaven, it does make you wonder how they have been able to keep this going for so long.
Well done @BemusingBrandy, you found it :)

Thanks so much - any idea of date?

Yes - that link was archived. The original:

Davies, Rhys (13 April 2020)

Thank you for the date @BemusingBrandy, I looked the other day and the rest of the reviews are there. It must have been deemed controversial for it to be archived, many others seem to have left their reviews in place, even when they have become aware of the scandal surrounding TSP.

This is used to market Landlines:
Raynor knows that her husband Moth's health is declining, getting worse by the day. She knows of only one cure: the healing power of walking.

And The Wild Silence:
the sea and sky that sustained them - that had saved Moth's life.

Out of interest, were the letters which SW posted online (2015 and October 2019) written by the same person who wrote the book review? If so, did the reviewer disclose that he was not independent and had a professional involvement?

They walked the London marathon in 2023 and the Thames path in 2024. On the 2023 justgiving page, the biggest donor is Moth Winn (£1000 + gift aid) also donations by another Moth Winn and also Julie and Dave from up North. On the 2024 page, the second highest is an undisclosed amount by Penguin Michael Joseph and also on the list are Julie and Dave from up North.

This is the editor of the book review section