Thread 23 : 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?

Links to threads 18-20 can be found in the OP of Thread 21: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5460943-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 22:www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5470952-thread-22-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?

Most recent:

• Salt Path: A Very British Scandal, available on Sky Documentaries and NOW TV, 15th December 2025
• ‘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
• Observer Newsroom: The Real Salt Path Story, Thursday 8th January 2026

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. For over 6 months we have done amazingly well together for 22 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.

After 22,000 posts there are still new things to look out for on the path:
Podcast series (7 episodes) from The Observer's award-winning Investigative Journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou, 13th January 2026.
The Walkers: The real Salt Path | The Observer

After listening to some of The Walkers: The real Salt Path podcast episodes from The Observer today my thoughts are even more with the victims. I also believe that the publishers, agent and prizegivers must now act and be seen to act.

Please start each post with the podcast episode you are commenting on, for clarity and to help others avoid spoilers if they wish to do so. Many thanks.

As always, keep to the path, no saltiness, eat fudge and drink cider.

NO POSTS PLEASE UNTIL THREAD 22 IS FULL

And thinking about it Talking Heads "Speaking In Tongues" LP has a track that could well describe the Winn Walkers; "Slippery People" !

Well to be honest there is quite a lot of scope, isn’t there, @DisappointedReader?! A couple of options i can see include the potential for possible benefits fraud and earlier financial wrongdoing in Burton?

I know nothing about this, but I thought PIP was clearly awarded according to an assessment of what you can and can’t do for yourself in daily living - if TW has been claiming PIP / DLA at times over the last 12 years, I am not sure how that tallies with the fact that they have gone ‘on the record’ in an ‘unflinchingly honest’ account stating that he has been able to walk on cliff paths, and camp, for extended periods of time. I have mobility issues (including weakness in various limbs), with both an autoimmune and neurological root - and can’t get a standard job because of it, but there is no way I would be able to claim PIP (and nor would I try to) because I can look after myself (and others) and get meals etc. I can’t walk very far, or very fast, and it has to be on very stable surfaces, like tarmac paths (as I run the risk of stumbling / falling on uneven ground). There is no way I could attempt walking on a cliff path - leg, hip and ankle weakness would render that very unsafe - and frankly impossible. It isn’t the case that I could just ‘push through it’.

My mobility has been steadily declining over the last few years (I am younger than the WWs), and I am really sad that I can no longer join my family in hiking. Thigh / ankle / hip weakness also means I find it difficult getting out of standard sofas - so I can’t sit on those anymore (it’s high-backed chairs with arms all the way, for me) - and as for squatting down to do anything - with weakness in the legs it is nearly impossible to get up by yourself from a low position. So I would really question whether significant limb weakness has ever really been a true part of the story…?

I tried to watch the film, but only managed a few minutes - so I don’t know if the ‘limping’ motif is the only nod towards a mobility issue that is shown.

As a final point, I don’t know what benefits - if any - have been claimed by the WWs over the years, and whether any of these have been incorrectly claimed, or not. I suppose if they have knowingly incorrectly claimed benefits at times, over the years, then that means that the tax-paying public have also been victims of their deceit.

But then there’s “True Stories”…!

Some claim that fake disability/PIP claims are quite rare and the awards process is fairly rigorous:

Myth: Anyone can fake a disability.
Fact: Medical evidence is essential in determining disability. Every applicant for Social Security disability benefits must provide medical evidence showing that he or she has a severe impairment. Reported symptoms alone are insufficient to prove an applicant has a severe impairment. If an applicant does not have access to medical evidence, or the evidence is inadequate, consultative examinations may be ordered and a medical opinion requested. Only then will all medical evidence be carefully considered by decision makers.
Just how rampant is Social Security disability fraud then? The Government Accountability Office found an error rate of only 0.6% regarding improper payments. It is time to put the myths to rest.

Another thing that strikes me as not entirely authentic, is the fact that they only seem to have sought advice from a single neurologist (NHS). From my own experience (of having a condition that isn’t easily diagnosable, and as such is lacking in material treatment options), it became a very visceral drive to try and find out what was going on, if not for my benefit, then for my children, in the event that whatever it is, is inherited in some way (as it seems to be, looking at family medical history). I have had very supportive NHS consultants, and have also had appointments and tests with private consultants (and spent my final year’s part-time wages on this). One of the lovely NHS consultants (at Guys) said to me that it is really important to get a definitive diagnosis if at all possible, even if there is no current cure, as medical advances in the future mean that my children (or grandchildren) - if also affected - would then be able to access new treatments… which obviously wouldn’t be possible if there was no diagnosis in place. This has been a very strong driving force, and still is - I am still on a journey to try and get a diagnosis.

I haven’t read the books, so don’t know whether there has been any narrative in there about what the implication of this mysterious degenerative condition has, for the Walker’s children / future grandchildren, and of the importance of getting a diagnosis.. but if it were me in that situation, and coming into substantial earnings from books, I would have paid for so many tests / consultations and would probably have endowed a research post / created a charitable trust and funded research through that.

I imagine they have not done those things? I suppose we do not know if they have sought other medical opinions - but I imagine they would have made those available, along with the others, if they had?

I'm still catching up but belated Happy Birthday @HatStickBoots !

@DisappointedReader there are no words to describe the awesome glory of your adaptation of Wuthering Heights. The greatness that is Kate B is honoured (and I'm sure the cows enjoyed the wuthering really, even if seemingly unappreciative)

While we're on the Bronte trail, @AbovetheVaultedSky 's excellent post demonstrates that Great Love Stories (or what passes for them) can be exploitative, deeply unhealthy and totally destructive to at least one party (see also Cathy and Heathcliff, although I think Mr Rochester was more of a rotter in many ways) Stealing from your friends and family to keep someone in Landrovers and waistcoats isn't romantic, at all. All it demonstates is servility to someone who needed to step up and be an equal, involved partner.

ETA my Talking Heads offering. 'Psycho Fibber'.

@Stouferone of the medical letters hypothesises that moth's CBD is 'monogenetic' but as far as I'm aware, that's the only reference. If it is a genetic issue, inheritance of the disease by his children is no guarantee depending on whether it is dominant or recessive. I think the consultant did suggest a genetics test but haven't got time to check....

@ThompsonTwin Thanks for this - as I said, I don’t know much about the assessment / awards procedure. The link in your post was from the US, I wonder what the differences in policy / assessment procedure are in the UK, compared to the US. From your link, it seems that a letter from your doctor is key evidence - and it may be that a diagnosis of CBD in a consultant’s letter would be considered good evidence, given the nature of the condition.

I do feel very conflicted commenting on this, and would probably adopt a very ‘live and let live’ approach - but I have to admit that the more that is uncovered about their activities, the less sympathy I feel for them - as they don’t seem to have had any sympathy, or thought, or consideration, for those that they came into contact with, and who have suffered losses as a result, whether financial, emotional or reputational.. Apologies to all if my posts about health have been inappropriate.

Thanks - just googled monogenetic, and it means ‘from a single gene’. We all have two copies of each gene, so it could be one faulty variant, or two faulty copies of the same gene, that is causing a problem. So I suppose statistically, if it is one faulty copy of the gene causing the problem, then each child has a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the disorder. If it is both copies of the gene that are faulty, then the children have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting one faulty copy from the affected parent, and thereby becoming a carrier of the disorder (who may not have any symptoms, if two faulty copies are required). Obviously, if the other (unaffected) parent is also a carrier, then that causes problems, as it is possible for children to inherit a faulty copy from both parents.

If it was me, and if money wasn’t an issue, I would get genetic tests / full genetic sequencing done, to see if something is uncovered…

@stoufer: i do hope that you manage to get a conclusive answer, for your peace of mind as well as potential benefit for kids' benefit. If I were them, I would be proud of you going to such lengths.

ps - I’m not a medical professional or genetics expert… I have just spent the last 6 years reading a lot about it all!

Hear hear to this @Stoufer

I’m too late to edit! My atrocious logic / maths skills letting me down.. if the affected parent has two faulty copies of the gene, causing the disorder, then children have a 100 per cent chance of inheriting a faulty copy from that parent (as both copies are faulty), so a 100 per cent chance of becoming a carrier, although they may not have symptoms themselves.. sorry!

In the 2015 letter the consultant said "I touched on the idea that genetic testing might be in order but have requested a repeat MRI brain scan as a first step." In the 2019 letter the consultant finds "my previous meeting with him some years ago tends to make me think that this is an even more unusual disorder, perhaps monogenetic (not withstanding the negative family history)." The second page of the 2019 consultation is missing, at the end of the page of the letter that we have, the consultant talks about undertaking a lumbar spine MRI to exclude a structural lesion. We don't know if any genetic testing ever happened. Nothing mentioned about it in the 2025 letter.

@Stouferbit of a rushed post as I'm mid parents evening. It depends on whether the gene is dominant or recessive, and also some disorders have much more complicated inheritance patterns. In all likelihood it would be recessive given there was no family history. Or, not caused by genetics at all. Not sure if that's helpful but back to parent's evening I go!

I'm pretty sure it would be 50%. A child can only inherit 50% of each parents' genome, with the other 50% of each parent not being inherited

I think - If the affected parent had two faulty copies of the gene (one inherited from the paternal grandfather, one inherited from the paternal grandmother) then each child woukd inherit their be or other of the faulty copies, so would have one faulty copy, ie would be a carrier - so if the child had a child with someone else who was a carrier, then their offspring could then have two faulty copies, and be affected. I think this is the limit of my scientific knowledge in this quarter!

@ThisQuirkyRaven Thanks! Hope parents’ evening goes well :)

Article on PIP fraud (admittedly by the DWP)

Zero percent fraud rate for PIP, DWP figures show

Nevertheless the mystery remains:

• many people who knew Tim well were convinced that there was nothing physically wrong with him

• yet he seems to have applied for and got PIP from 2014 when he was staying with Polly

• but nevertheless subsequently went off on several walks on the SWCP in 2015/16 where it's not clear that he was so physically incapacitated that he needed PIP to help him remain independent

Rather seems to beg the question whether Tim, with his ability to deceive and manipulate and charm, managed to pull off a fast one on the NHS

Ep. 4 The Miracle
Chloe says in her conclusion : "Moth didn't seem to be dying and then yo-yoing back to health?"

This is one thing he seems to be in the books and in reality - a yo-yo. In the books he is a health yo-yo. In reality he has a yo-yo mindset and can present as full of vitality or dying.

That is horrifying, I agree. I’ve never seen a film adaptation that got it right and I doubt this one will either if they’re selling it as a romance.

Evening @DisappointedReader and thank you 🍻🥾🥾
”Acting voice”, yes. It’s Alison Steadman’s character from Nuts in May. I think that even before the proverbial hit the fan, I struggled to watch and listen to her but had no problem reading her words and this is when I was buying her story and loving them both. I know that if I’d met them at the Fat Apples and they’d looked homeless and obviously hungry, I’d have offered to buy them food.

@HatStickBoots Their so-called love story does seem to have been revered as some sort of romantic ideal when it is anything but.
ep, 2

I have to say I think Warren (Grant) was very insightful - so much more perceptive than anything I have read in TSP about people and relationships.

Chloe learns from Warren that Raynor presents the love that she and Moth share as something that elevates them - it gives them a spiritual edge over people with wealth.

Warren says the most telling thing ever about the Walkers: "They are very unlucky to have such an unkind way of looking at others".

Warren is my guru!

I liked Warren @BewilderingBrandy I agree with your post earlier today too, about serpents and doves, I had to look it up first :)

Thank you @Uricon2 🍻
I agree with you and @AbovetheVaultedSky and speaking of arrogant twit landrovers and waistcoats reminds me that my mother and I were almost turned into soup by one of those beasts that Timmoth had, backing towards us in a car park, knowing we had just got out of our car and couldn’t go anywhere. I had to yell!

Talking Heads, great band.