The Salt Path, which was released as a festival circuit film in September 2024 (2025 in the US), has now been exposed as a made-up story with a past that’s been reimagined. This is how an enlightening story of grit, determination, and inspiration became a sad one of grift, deception, and incomprehension. Readers and audiences deserved way better. The Salt Path is a 2018 book written by Raynor Winn, which was later turned into a movie.
“Raynor and Moth Winn,” A.K.A. Sally and Tim Walker (not like Moth is a weird name or anything), are a middle-aged Welsh couple who live in a beautiful house in the countryside. They had made a series of bad investments and eventually lost their house. Around the same time as their huge financial loss, Moth (or Tim) became ill with corticobasal degeneration, a degenerative neurological condition.
The couple embarked on a long and often challenging hike in the western part of England. They traversed the Salt Path or the South West Coast Path, which is a 630-mile trail. Tim (er, Moth) soon became better, thanks to the fresh air and healing powers of the path. It was miraculous. The book, titled The Salt Path, was a bestseller, particularly in the UK, and later, it was turned into a movie starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
Not long after the book came out, several townspeople and acquaintances of Tim and Sally Walker knew something was up. Yes, the couple had lost their house, but not due to bad investments. Sally had swindled her employers out of money, £63,000 to be exact. Then, in a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” kind of move, she borrowed money again from distant relatives. The amount was approximately £100,000 this time. Ultimately, they were sued and lost their house.
As for Tim Walker and his corticobasal degeneration? He’s had it for quite a while. Generally, when someone receives this diagnosis, there might be six to eight years before serious restriction of movement, among other problems, sets in. And he’s been on long hikes? So, there may be some doubt about this diagnosis.
On Saturday, Chloe Hadjimatheou wrote in the UK’s The Observer about the Walkers and how they built their story on lies and deceit. Those who were involved with the Winns (or Walkers) knew all too well of the fraud. The worst part was The Salt Path gave people hope about the health and the healing powers of a journey taken to appreciate nature. It didn’t occur the way in which Raynor (Sally) described.
What does Sally say now? In a statement made shortly after the Observer article came out, she wrote
[The] Observer article is highly misleading… We are taking legal advice and won’t be making any further comment at this time.. ‘The Salt Path’ lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. This is the true story of our journey.
So what happens now? The publisher, Penguin, has not commented. Years ago, author James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, a novel about his drug addiction, was discovered to be false. Readers sued the publisher, Random House. Walker’s publicist had not commented and neither has the movie production company.
If people want to take what they can from the story’s message and make the most of it, that’s one thing. But a story based on lie after lie, where the foundation is cracked, is a whole other thing. It’s enraging, and it can be harmful, but mostly, it’s very sad.
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