What is The Salt Path and the story surrounding it?

South Wales Argus

13-07-2025

The book tells the story of how she and her husband, Moth, walked the South West Coast Path after losing their home.
It was later turned into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
Winn has recently described enduring some of the 'hardest days' of her life, after claims that parts of it were fabricated.
What is the Salt Path?
The Salt Path is a 2018 memoir, nature, and travel book written by Raynor Winn.
It tells the story of the long-distance walk she and her husband Moth took along the South West Coast Path, in South West England.
The pair had lost their home and Moth was reportedly diagnosed with fatal corticobasal degeneration (CBD).
Throughout the story, the couple is almost penniless, receiving little money in tax credits each week and camping each night.
The story ends on the last day, after walking the whole path in two sections, in two successive summers, when the couple meets a stranger who offers them the tenancy of a flat.
In 2023, a film adaptation began production, with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in the lead roles.
It premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the UK in May 2025.
What is the controversy surrounding the Salt Path?
An investigation by The Observer newspaper, however, has reported that Winn may have misrepresented the events that led to the couple losing their home and that experts had doubts over Moth having corticobasal degeneration (CBD).
The publisher, which also said the couple's legal names are Sally and Timothy Walker, said the couple lost their home after an accusation that Winn had stolen thousands of pounds from her employer, rather than a bad business investment.
It also said that it had spoken to medical experts who were sceptical about Moth having CBD, given his lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them.
Gillian Anderson attends the CineMerit Award for #GillianAnderson and the Premiere of the movie "The Salt Path" during the 2025 Munich Film Festival at Deutsches Theater in Munich, Germany.
More #GettyVideo #MunichFilmFest 🎥 Andreas Rentz 👉 https://t.co/MQixIYLrNg pic.twitter.com/GcxiZ69tAO — Getty Images Entertainment (@GettyVIP) July 1, 2025
Penguin, which published the book, said it 'undertook all the necessary pre-publication due diligence', including a contract with an author warranty about factual accuracy, and a legal read.
It added: 'Prior to the Observer enquiry, we had not received any concerns about the book's content.'
What has Raynor Winn said about the Observer's claims?
In a statement on her website, she hit back at the Observer's article, saying it was 'grotesquely unfair, highly misleading and seeks to systematically pick apart my life'.
She added: 'The Salt Path is about what happened to Moth and me, after we lost our home and found ourselves homeless on the headlands of the south west.
'It's not about every event or moment in our lives, but rather about a capsule of time when our lives moved from a place of complete despair to a place of hope.
'The journey held within those pages is one of salt and weather, of pain and possibility. And I can't allow any more doubt to be cast on the validity of those memories, or the joy they have given so many.'
On Wednesday (July 9), Winn also posted clinic letters on Instagram addressed to Timothy Walker, which she said showed that 'he is treated for CBD/S and has been for many years'.
She wrote: 'The last few days have been some of the hardest of my life. Heartbreaking accusations that Moth has made up his illness have been made, leaving us devastated.'
Raynor Winn delays next book after Salt Path drama
In a statement on Friday (July 11), Penguin Michael Joseph, which published The Salt Path in 2018, said Winn's next book will now be delayed.
On Winter Hill was due to be published in October, but has been pushed back following the "intrusive conjecture".
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A spokeswoman for the publisher said: 'Given recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth's health condition, which has caused considerable distress to Raynor Winn and her family, it is our priority to support the author at this time.
'With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, has made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October.
'We will announce a new publication date in due course.'