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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?

1000 replies

DisappointedReader · 16/12/2025 16:15

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:

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
39
TheTimeTravellersNiece · 05/01/2026 15:42

Can anyone who has read the books tell me if there is any reference at all in them to Lord of the Rings?

Thanks

LetsBeSensible · 05/01/2026 15:43

Or we could consider that Mr Rhys has also fallen under the TimMoth spell, just like Jason Isaac did?
A charming man, clearly something is wrong and his little mouse of a wife looks so concerned, terrible shame that has happened to him but only CBD fits as a diagnosis. It’s certainly atypical and indolent but then again we don’t know everything as medics. And what an inspirational story, clearly in his case, being physically active is just what he needed!

BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 16:19

@Freshsocks I have thought long and hard as to why Salray had to have it all, homelessness and terminal illness, she might have wanted to move the house repossession and place everything in 2015, but knew that this could be easily checked by anyone with the knowledge and desire to find out. Tim's health is protected information, she probably didn't think she would ever have to prove it and patient confidentiality would protect the lies.

Even now, the letters are there for everyone to see, the evidence of deception is there, but most people are still not seeing it. Just looking at the first letter 2015, Tim has either withheld the fact that he walked the SWCP, rather important information for a man who is complaining about an impairment of his walking, or it never happened. Yet that was missed by us for months, also his plan for a future walk, both spotted by @SimoArmo

Now that we know that they stayed with family and they just went on holiday walks it fits much better. The consultant in June 2015, gives the go-ahead for the Horticultural course in autumn term 2015, they decide to put everything in the book happening in 2013 for dramatic effect. They draw on their knowledge of spending time with their son in July 2013, in Newquay, and him then picking them up from Land's End.

So they can write about other parts of the SWCP they make forays on the south coast as they are arranging to live equidistant to Eden and Plymouth.- and bump into the commendable Parsons from Australia, Saturday 8 August 2015. They so very obviously know little about the south coast of the SWCP from Poole to Plymouth, so that is all crammed in briefly in TSP.

Peladon · 05/01/2026 16:23

Meanwhile, back in North Wales:

Www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

Uricon2 · 05/01/2026 16:27

If this is too out there please do pelt me with stale fudge and rotting seagulls, but could the Rhys Davies review be a bit of tongue in cheek public sarcasm? The neurologists Chloe spoke to were deeply sceptical about it all. RD must have at least suspected his audience (fellow physicians, including neurologists, with in depth knowledge of the condition) would be thinking "hang on a minute" re the curative benefits of walking on this illness.

The airy breezy tone could fend off any wrath from Raymoth ..." but I was saying how WONDERFUL it is" while still sending up a bat signal re batshittery to his peers.

I'm probably dead wrong and on far too many betablockers!

@Thelandsthatmustnotbementioned have you turned your DH into a snowman with a fluffy hairstyle and roguishly tied neckerchief yet? If not, why not?!

PinkPanther57 · 05/01/2026 16:33

Uricon2 · 05/01/2026 16:27

If this is too out there please do pelt me with stale fudge and rotting seagulls, but could the Rhys Davies review be a bit of tongue in cheek public sarcasm? The neurologists Chloe spoke to were deeply sceptical about it all. RD must have at least suspected his audience (fellow physicians, including neurologists, with in depth knowledge of the condition) would be thinking "hang on a minute" re the curative benefits of walking on this illness.

The airy breezy tone could fend off any wrath from Raymoth ..." but I was saying how WONDERFUL it is" while still sending up a bat signal re batshittery to his peers.

I'm probably dead wrong and on far too many betablockers!

@Thelandsthatmustnotbementioned have you turned your DH into a snowman with a fluffy hairstyle and roguishly tied neckerchief yet? If not, why not?!

There is something for me in the airy tone to me that suggests he didn’t closely read the book. I feel he’d have picked up on something more specific if he had but just a gut feel. Any other reviews in the journal & prior for him?

PinkPanther57 · 05/01/2026 16:41

To add, I am sometimes asked to review a book & whilst I generally agree am often unfortunately very tardy in my response as super busy. I always closely read the book & try to pick up on something personal & positive when I do review. Not a medical consultant though. Prob overthinking.

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 16:46

PinkPanther57 · 05/01/2026 16:33

There is something for me in the airy tone to me that suggests he didn’t closely read the book. I feel he’d have picked up on something more specific if he had but just a gut feel. Any other reviews in the journal & prior for him?

Take your pick...all of his listed here:

acnr.co.uk/acnr-author/rhys-davies/

ThisQuirkyRaven · 05/01/2026 16:46

So I did some sleuthing into Salray's latest walk and already found a discrepancy; her Instagram post references two named storms. The Met office records show a different story.

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?
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?
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?
BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 16:54

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 16:46

Take your pick...all of his listed here:

acnr.co.uk/acnr-author/rhys-davies/

Except TSP ... the others still available.

BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 17:26

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 15:08

All very well put. The last bit about Salray possibly framing TSP so she could later plead ignorance/faux despair/joy if CBD was subsequently ruled out ties with what I posted earlier and how it could make more sense for readers when later learning Tim is alive and well. Just the CBD "diagnosis" persisted (in the 2019 letter anyway) so she/they ran with it for subsequent books.

Incidentally, this got me thinking about, and looking into, dates. Is it intriguing that TWS was first announced as a book in the offing on 25 Sept 2019 (at a PRH showcase event), just days after the WW's returned from Iceland (as featured in TWS) suggesting much of it was still to be written at the point of announcement...note the announcement soley focuses on the rewilding angle. Meanwhile, this announcement was a mere 2 weeks before the 2019 consultation dated to 11 Oct 2019...(the consultation whereby we learn a former DaTScan post 2015 has shown doperminargic depletion). Again, no mention of arduous hiking and recovery this time in Iceland. Was the consultation timing close to the book announcement mere coincidence or was there an ulterior motive to get Tim seen for book writing purposes?

Edited

It is also interesting that they had the money - when Tim was a student and Sal was writing. but not published - to previously go to Iceland in 2017. Notoriously expensive choice.

Peladon · 05/01/2026 17:30

TheTimeTravellersNiece · 05/01/2026 15:42

Can anyone who has read the books tell me if there is any reference at all in them to Lord of the Rings?

Thanks

Does SW refer to TW as "my precious"?

Freshsocks · 05/01/2026 17:34

So interesting @SimoArmo, your question, was the 2019 consultation merely a coincidence, or was there an ulterior motive for book writing purposes?
I think it's great @ThisQuirkyRaven, that we have someone onboard who can understand brain chemistry and look at things with a scientific eye.
I don't know about the review @Uricon2, it has always seemed to me to have been written by Dr Davies, it makes more sense to me that he is the author and the diagnosing consultant. I was probably uncharitable to say that he lives in la la land, but he has very likely had a sheltered existence. I wouldn't have thought he has come across that many people like Raymoth, and in fairness many have been deceived by them.

Dr Davies heads the association of Welsh medics, he participates in Welsh speaking events. I tried to look at one on YouTube, he is speaking Welsh with some visuals (I'm sure he was talking about the benefits of walking in nature :) but Google translates Welsh speaking as music, so unless we have a Welsh speaker on board? He gives no indication of knowing the author or that Tim is his patient, but remember, patient confidentiality, it would mean he could not say that he was, unless Tim gave his permission.

I think this is why the review seems as if he is reviewing a novel with characters, rather than anyone who is his patient. I could be completely wrong, we are all just putting forward theories. But Dr Davies, could be the diagnosing consultant, @SimoArmo mentioned the dates earlier, the second page of the 2019 consultation is missing, we don't know what the consultant said at the end of the consultation. They might have discussed the book, we don't know.

The consultantaton seems to have been made due to Tim having pressure like headaches with throbbing and transitory imbalance, he hasn't seen Tim for some years, the consultant thinks the headaches are migraine like, other pins and needles sensations, the bottom thing, that nobody wants to think about again :) he concludes, that although the yield is fairly low, he will be undertaking a lumbar spine MRI to exclude a structural lesion. It ends there, the next page is missing.

PinkPanther57 · 05/01/2026 17:45

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 16:46

Take your pick...all of his listed here:

acnr.co.uk/acnr-author/rhys-davies/

Thank you. @Freshsocks & others, after looking at these reviews my lay person opinion is perhaps he didn’t read TSP and/or only skim read?

I need to look back but even the ‘pop’ science books here have particular details he’s noted and zoomed in on, as I was expecting him to do in TSP. There’s evidence of very close attention & reflection re: all the other books he’s reviewed it seems.

We can’t know of course & TSP isn’t a ‘science’ book ofc…

Do we know why the review was removed? At whose request I wonder?

SimonArmpit · 05/01/2026 18:11

BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 17:26

It is also interesting that they had the money - when Tim was a student and Sal was writing. but not published - to previously go to Iceland in 2017. Notoriously expensive choice.

Money.... From all accounts Tim was receiving Pip rather than working tax credits. This is paid monthly (not weekly) and could have reached as much as £540 per month back in 2013. Tim would have been eligible for a student grant from Sept 2015 to supplement his Pip payments. Holidays to Iceland (admittedly low season by EZY) would have been loose change....Subsequently set them up for the 2 week jaunt on the Laugavegur trail which featured in TWS with D&J from up North, but, apart from a cheap flight and an opportunity to see the Northern Lights, a trip to Iceland in deep midwinter (6 hrs sunlight and limited walking opps) seems an interesting choice of holiday destination.

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 18:15

ThisQuirkyRaven · 05/01/2026 16:46

So I did some sleuthing into Salray's latest walk and already found a discrepancy; her Instagram post references two named storms. The Met office records show a different story.

Sorry to disappoint but there was also Storm Herminia (a few days after Eowyn) that was named by Spanish meteorologists, which meant it bypassed the MET office storm naming system.

www.itv.com/news/2025-01-28/storm-herminia-where-will-the-bad-weather-hit-and-when

Freshsocks · 05/01/2026 18:17

It was probably removed when CH started to ask questions about the diagnosis, I'm sure she would have wanted to talk to Dr Davies, he is a consultant neurologist at the unit where Tim was a patient, and he had reviewed TSP, I don't think he would have wanted to talk to Chloe though@PinkPanther57.

ThisQuirkyRaven · 05/01/2026 18:18

@SimoArmoI stand corrected 🤣. poops.

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 18:18

BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 17:26

It is also interesting that they had the money - when Tim was a student and Sal was writing. but not published - to previously go to Iceland in 2017. Notoriously expensive choice.

Especially for someone who claimed they used the book advance to repay her debts...yes, she boldly said this in her July statement.

TheTimeTravellersNiece · 05/01/2026 18:26

Peladon · 05/01/2026 17:30

Does SW refer to TW as "my precious"?

No idea, although I could hear that in her raspy voice!

I just came across the name 'Rayner Unwin' who was Tolkiens publisher. They were great friends, and at one stage Tolkien told Rayner to stop calling him 'Professor' and to call him Ronald instead. Ronald is Timmoth's middle name. It set me idly wondering...

Interesting coincidence though, I've never heard the name Raynor/Rayner before.

SimonArmpit · 05/01/2026 18:27

BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 17:26

It is also interesting that they had the money - when Tim was a student and Sal was writing. but not published - to previously go to Iceland in 2017. Notoriously expensive choice.

You could have got return flight from the UK to Iceland in midwinter for around £50-60 pp back in 2019. Cheap for a a reason...

BemusingBrandy · 05/01/2026 18:33

SimonArmpit · 05/01/2026 18:27

You could have got return flight from the UK to Iceland in midwinter for around £50-60 pp back in 2019. Cheap for a a reason...

It was just that the Walkers wanted to give the impression that they had very little money until TSP was published - and they only went to Iceland, for the ;first time, with the proceeds. Whereas (from a Chloe article):

But photos on her Instagram account show the couple was in Iceland in early 2017, a year before the first book was published.

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 18:37

Freshsocks · 05/01/2026 17:34

So interesting @SimoArmo, your question, was the 2019 consultation merely a coincidence, or was there an ulterior motive for book writing purposes?
I think it's great @ThisQuirkyRaven, that we have someone onboard who can understand brain chemistry and look at things with a scientific eye.
I don't know about the review @Uricon2, it has always seemed to me to have been written by Dr Davies, it makes more sense to me that he is the author and the diagnosing consultant. I was probably uncharitable to say that he lives in la la land, but he has very likely had a sheltered existence. I wouldn't have thought he has come across that many people like Raymoth, and in fairness many have been deceived by them.

Dr Davies heads the association of Welsh medics, he participates in Welsh speaking events. I tried to look at one on YouTube, he is speaking Welsh with some visuals (I'm sure he was talking about the benefits of walking in nature :) but Google translates Welsh speaking as music, so unless we have a Welsh speaker on board? He gives no indication of knowing the author or that Tim is his patient, but remember, patient confidentiality, it would mean he could not say that he was, unless Tim gave his permission.

I think this is why the review seems as if he is reviewing a novel with characters, rather than anyone who is his patient. I could be completely wrong, we are all just putting forward theories. But Dr Davies, could be the diagnosing consultant, @SimoArmo mentioned the dates earlier, the second page of the 2019 consultation is missing, we don't know what the consultant said at the end of the consultation. They might have discussed the book, we don't know.

The consultantaton seems to have been made due to Tim having pressure like headaches with throbbing and transitory imbalance, he hasn't seen Tim for some years, the consultant thinks the headaches are migraine like, other pins and needles sensations, the bottom thing, that nobody wants to think about again :) he concludes, that although the yield is fairly low, he will be undertaking a lumbar spine MRI to exclude a structural lesion. It ends there, the next page is missing.

All good points. To add a further date observation...as the consultation was 11 Oct 2019 and the book review published in April 2020 (in a quarterly journal), it is conceivable that Davies was told about, or even given the book by them at the consultation. Not conclusive by any means, but still something. It was likely too late to include a review in the Winter edition given magazines and journals line up content well ahead of print. So it would make sense he put it in the next available slot for the Spring issue, IF he is indeed Tim's consultant.

What's more, think about the fact the consultant states in 2019 that he last saw Tim a number of years ago...which certainly suggests he isn't Tim's regular Dr for assessments and check ups, or who conveyed the initial DaTScan results...so why all of a sudden do they travel all the way from Haye Farm in Cornwall to north Wales to attend his clinic? Again, was there a specific motive to want to see this particular consultant?

SimoArmo · 05/01/2026 18:50

ThisQuirkyRaven · 05/01/2026 18:18

@SimoArmoI stand corrected 🤣. poops.

I only know because i recall being bamboozled when suddenly weather reports jumped from E (Eowyn) to H (Herminia) within days with no F or G. Turns out storm naming differs among agencies and whoever calls it first takes precedence. Though I could be oversimplifying...seems like a dark and complex art. I wonder if there will ever be a Storm Raynor or Moth. They already have a shitstorm I suppose.

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