Raynor Winn/Sally Walker issues Statement

I'm shocked at how many interviews she has given over the years each one just saying the same thing word for word about how they ended up being homeless. Also the fact that her husband is very rarely, if ever, interviewed. I don't understand why she narrated her own book given that her speaking voice is so dull and lifeless[I know that isn't her fault but I would have thought that she would have been aware of it herself]. It's one reason why I wouldn't go to see Gigspanner, even though I like them.There is a reason why they use actors to narrate books.

I have read some book reviews from as far back as 2019 which cast doubt on the veracity of Sally's account of their journey along the salt path.

Moth still told the owner of the vineyard in Cornwall that had allowed them to live there that ‘he didn’t have long to live’ though, which wasn’t true. And, even if he had been given a diagnosis of CBD (?) at one point it must have been obvious that the disease wasn’t progressing as it usually did and the Winns continued to make it look as if it was because of the walking, not a wrong diagnosis. Which gave false hope to other sufferers.

There's a Consultant neurologist's letter dated June 2015 which refers to his symptoms starting 9/10 year previously and that he saw a doctor in 2009, he also had several tests in 2011. Primrose I have no idea what the truth is but it would seem he had had some health issues prior to August 2013 when they started the walk. As I said in my post, I have mentioned this "for balance" not to try to prove innocence or guilt. The letter of 2015 mentions a diagnosis of corticobasal syndrome/corticobasal degeneration and is there for anyone who wants to take the time to read it. I have posted a link to an article that includes the full statement which include further letters from his neurologist.

deadline.com/2025/07/salt-path-author-accusations-statement-1236453403/

foxie48

Just for balance, Winn has put a statement up which includes medical records from her husband's neurologists which confirm his diagnosis. I've absolutely no reason to defend or accuse the couple but I'm very aware how the media loves a good story and you need a lot of money to challenge the media for inaccurate or slanderous reporting.

Check the dates.

Just for balance, Winn has put a statement up which includes medical records from her husband's neurologists which confirm his diagnosis. I've absolutely no reason to defend or accuse the couple but I'm very aware how the media loves a good story and you need a lot of money to challenge the media for inaccurate or slanderous reporting.

eddiecat78

MayBee70

Having read more articles it does seem correct that Moth had some sort of neurological condition because one article said he had been struggling with the work that he did. But, like many such conditions, there are no tests for such things so it’s down to the doctors to make a diagnosis on the symptoms presented to them.

Yes but today's Observer article says that at the same time that he was telling their benefactor he didn't have long to live, she was saying that a brain scan showed there was no longer any damage (and attributing this miracle to their walk).

I’ve just read that article. I remember watching the Rick Stein feature on them in which they made it look as if they were actually making cider there.

Amazing how some people are prepared to defend other people's blatant mistruths. Makes you doubt everything they write.Eazybee this is what I am objecting to. I'm perfectly happy for people to disagree with anything that I post but I am neither defending the woman nor am I dishonest.

When I read a non-fiction or autobiographical book I trust that it’s an honest account to the best of the writer’s knowledge and belief, otherwise it’s a work of fiction.

In the book she glosses over how they found themselves homeless, certainly I wasn't sure of the facts behind it as they were not discussed in any detail in the book. Probably a convenient omission but hardly a hanging offence!

Not a 'convenient omission' but, a deliberate and very profitable mistruth, endorsed in the many subsequent interviews she gave.
It is unfair to cast aspersions on a 'hate-fest' without reading the several Observer articles concerning her deliberate omissions. She actively blamed 'Cooper 'for the disaster he brought to their lives, with their failed investments,when in fact it was her embezzlement of £64, 000 which led to them raising a loan which they were unable to repay.
The book is published as non-fiction, therefore cannot be a fictional biography.
Apparently publishers take many books on trust, to the surprise of their readers, who think, as I do, if it is in print it must be true as lies would quickly be revealed. The Walkers have had an amazing and undeserved success for some years but are now revealed as being economical with the truth, to say the least. It is impossible to believe anything they produce in future.

I’m even less impressed by Raynor Winn having read that

Primrose53

Here’s a bit about her tattoo artist daughter. raynor/sally still saying in 2021 that they were evicted.

www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/raynor-winn-lockdown-hope

If Raynor Winn wrote that article herself, she can't spell!

I think I’ve been in a coma 😅 as it was on my list to watch and I’ve missed all the controversy

I've reached the conclusion that she's a fantasist...

Here’s a bit about her tattoo artist daughter. raynor/sally still saying in 2021 that they were evicted.

www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/raynor-winn-lockdown-hope

Magenta8

J52

All the hype and curiosity has made the Salt Path top of the Times best seller paperbacks, for this week.
More royalties for them, they should give them to a charity, perhaps the CBS one.

Depressing but inevitable. I expect the film is doing better too following the revelations.

Perhaps Sally and Tim Walker should start by paying back the money they owes to the many people and organisations they have defrauded over the years as well as donating to charity.

I wonder where her children are in all this. I think it is a good thing that they have been able to stay out of the limelight and I hope they are able to continue to do so.

I read an article where her son was discussed. Apparently when they were so skint he was posting on Facebook that he was off somewhere abroad on holiday as his fab parents had paid for him.

eddiecat78 No I haven't read the article but I really object to the suggestion that I am some how dishonest and not to be trusted on the basis of a post. You have agreed with me that not writing in detail about the events that led to them becoming homeless is not a "hanging offence" but I have not said it is trivial because I really don't know the circumstances of exactly why they did become homeless. As far as I am aware Winn's husband is ill but that the illness has progressed slowly and perhaps he's had periods of remission, I don't know that either as I'm not his doctor. If I am willing to defend anything, I guess it's my right to say I read the book, watched the film and I enjoyed them both.

J52

All the hype and curiosity has made the Salt Path top of the Times best seller paperbacks, for this week.
More royalties for them, they should give them to a charity, perhaps the CBS one.

Depressing but inevitable. I expect the film is doing better too following the revelations.

Perhaps Sally and Tim Walker should start by paying back the money they owes to the many people and organisations they have defrauded over the years as well as donating to charity.

I wonder where her children are in all this. I think it is a good thing that they have been able to stay out of the limelight and I hope they are able to continue to do so.

foxie48 have you read the Observer articles?
I think everyone accepts that autobiographies won't tell the whole story but The Salt Path was marketed as being "unflinchingly honest" and it wasn't. Some readers were inspired by 2 apparently blameless people triumphing over adversity. Others who have the more usual version of Moth's illness were given hope and made to feel they could recover if they just kept active. They now realise that was false hope. One benefactor was so moved by their story that he allowed them to live at his farm - but now believes he was well and truly duped by them. The employer Winn stole from lost all of his faith in people and has now died.
Perhaps these aren't "hangable offences" but they aren't trivial either

"Amazing how some people are prepared to defend other people's blatant mistruths. Makes you doubt everything they write." Eazybee is this aimed at me? If it is, can I ask you to read my post again. I have not defended Winn, merely said how I approached the book as an autobiographical novel. You have said "would liked to have known more about their backgrounds....how did they get into such a mess with their investments?", I've made a similar comment about it being glossed over. I read the book as simply, couple lose their home, husband has a horrible diagnosis and they walk the Salt Path and find ways to cope and it makes a readable book that I enjoyed. Nothing more and nothing less. I'm really not sure how that earns me or anyone else for the matter your comment above!

When the film came out I watched an interview in which "Raynor" stated that they had lost their home due to an unwise business decision and Gillian Anderson, sitting next to her, said, very forcibly "you didn't make a bad decision, you were conned".
I should think Gillian feels she has been conned now.

I'm amazed that it was assumed that posters might have been guilty of doing similar things therefore should not cast stones!

I'm sure I'm not without sin but stealing and lying?
Some people, of course, cannot help themselves because they live in a fantasy world. Walter Mitty characters - we encountered one for a time a few years ago. Some were taken in but not all of us.

The book was published by Penguin as Non-Fiction, and in subsequent interviews the couple gave claimed it was a true account.
Amazing how some people are prepared to defend other people's blatant mistruths. Makes you doubt everything they write.

All the hype and curiosity has made the Salt Path top of the Times best seller paperbacks, for this week.
More royalties for them, they should give them to a charity, perhaps the CBS one.

Very interesting article, the result of proper research, and shows how mendacious and duplicitous Sally Walker remains.
Sorry I wasted money on buying her book.
I found my notes from Reading group (2020).
Apparently I admired her caustic comments about people they met, her ear for dialogue, the fluent writing, the descriptions of places and wild camping, after a shaky start(?).

I questioned whether they could really exist on that diet, the coincidences at the end, and tellingly, "would liked to have known more about their backgrounds....how did they get into such a mess with their investments?"
I had also pencilled in at the top, "physical conditions gave them a focus? Foolhardy, arrogant, irresponsible?" but think those were the thoughts of a critic.