Salt Path Scandal, The (2025)

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(WAVES LAPPING)

(MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWS ANCHOR:

We spoke to Raynor

and asked her why she felt

her story connected

with so many people.

RAYNOR: It's that

question of what we do

when everything falls apart,

when life really

hits the wall,

How do we stand up again?

How do we go forward?

I think The Salt Path

had such a universal, um...

theme to it, really,

and brings up so many of those

shared human emotions.

PRESENTER 1:

On the programme tonight,

The Salt Path.

PRESENTER 2: The Salt Path.

PRESENTER 3:

It's one of the best-selling

non-fiction paperbacks.

Yes, Raynor Winn

and her husband Moth

lost their home,

their business, and learnt Moth

was terminally ill

all in the space

of a few days.

The Salt Path tells the story

of how walking the coast

gave them new hope.

PRESENTER:

Now that memorable story

of one couple's epic trek

along the South West coastal

path has been turned into

a film.

(PEOPLE CALL OUT)

WOMAN: Gillian!

HOST: What's it like

seeing Gillian Anderson

and Jason Isaacs

portraying your story?

- Well, even now,

it's not quite real.

- (BOTH LAUGH)

REPORTER:

A woman who, in the same week,

had her home repossessed

and discovered her

husband had received

a terminal diagnosis.

What do you do?

They walked away, literally.

Setting out with a tent

and small change.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)

TOM:

The newspaper investigation

has revealed questions

over the truth

behind The Salt Path.

An Observer investigation

suggesting she misrepresented

how they lost their home

and casting doubt

on his illness

has left many

feeling betrayed.

REPORTER: "Unflinchingly

honest" was the phrase

used by the publishers

but a story broken

by Chloe Hadjimatheou

in The Observer,

now, questions

have been raised.

Raynor Winn herself

has fiercely defended

the veracity of her book.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

HADJIMATHEOU:

I think what's crazy

about this,

is that each time

I turn a corner with it,

I notice another thread

dangling.

I pull and there's

something bigger.

There just seems to be

more and more revelations.

RAYNOR'S NIECE:

My best friend did it

in her book club,

and I went,

"That's my aunt!"

- Everywhere you turned,

it was there.

- Yeah.

What was it like for you guys

when my first article

was published?

I called my sister.

I called her and said,

"Oh, my God,

it's finally happening.

Someone knows."

(MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING)

(SEAGULLS SQUAWK)

It's there now.

My name's Chloe Hadjimatheou.

I'm an investigative journalist

for The Observer newspaper.

Back in March this year,

a member of the public

got in touch with me

with a tip-off.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

I was actually in the middle

of planning a trip to Syria

to do an investigation

and suddenly this message

just popped up

on my social media.

(DINGING)

It was a complete stranger

who said they had

a story for me

that I might want to look into

and it was about a book

called The Salt Path.

When you get a source,

like a tip-off,

I mean,

my first instinct

is not to trust it.

And at the time,

I had absolutely no idea

what this book

The Salt Path was,

and never heard

of its author Raynor Winn.

Being honest,

just didn't understand what

the big deal was.

Definitely a favorite

is The Salt Path

by Raynor Winn.

It was visually captivating.

In my top five books.

Read the book.

It tells the story of how Raynor

and her husband Moth Winn...

Lost their money

and had their

house repossessed.

And they hike,

live rough

along the coastline.

Discovered Moth had

terminal illness.

Terminal diagnosis and they

decided to just up sticks

and go walking

the English coast.

Life can't get much worse,

can it?

HADJIMATHEOU: Readers loved it

and the book sold more than

two million copies,

but they fell in love

with a story they were told

was real.

And I was about to uncover

something very different.

There are very, very few stories

that actually pan out

and turn into something big.

So when I replied,

I had no idea that

this message would end up

leading to one of

the biggest scoops

of my journalistic career.

The first thing

this person said to me was,

the author of this "true story"

had been making things up.

And they had pieces

of key information for me.

The first was

their real names.

They're not really

Raynor Winn and Moth,

legal names are

Sally and Tim Walker.

They also told me

the name of the village

where they had started out

in Wales, where they'd

lost their house.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

None of this is public.

And, I have to say,

journalistically,

my instinct is,

if your real name

isn't out there,

what are you hiding?

That's the first thing

that made me think maybe

there's something in this.

First thing I did

was go out and buy myself

a copy of The Salt Path

and read the book.

(SOULFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: In the courtroom,

I watched as Moth picked

at a white fleck

on the black table

in front of him.

He'd been close friends

with the man

who was making

the financial claim

against us.

I knew what he was thinking.

"How had it come to this?"

HADJIMATHEOU: So The Salt Path

opens, uh, on this really

quite tragic scene.

Raynor and Moth have just

found out that they're

losing their house

after somebody

they considered a friend

essentially conned them

out of it.

(SOULFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)

My anonymous source told me

there were these rumors

about a story in Pwllheli,

North Wales,

the town where

Raynor and Moth

had lived for years

before becoming destitute.

After I hung out

in local pubs for a day,

I ended up getting

a contact for the widow

of a man called Martin

- who ran a local estate agency

on the high street.

- (LINE RINGS)

Her name was Ros,

and she was really

the first key person

that I spoke to in

this investigation.

I said to her,

"This is going to

seem a bit weird,

an investigative journalist

from London calling you."

If I'm honest, a big part of me

thought she would say

this was rubbish,

- there was no truth

to the rumors...

- (LINE RINGS)

and Sally Walker was a lovely

person and there was nothing

more to the story.

It was shocking

to hear her tone of voice

because it was clear

she's waiting

for somebody to call.

- ROS: (OVER PHONE) Yes?

- Hello. I'm the journalist

from London

- trying to reach you.

- Yes.

I am currently investigating

a couple who used to live

in Pwllheli.

ROS: I thought you might be.

Their names have changed,

haven't they?

- HADJIMATHEOU:

Yes, they have. Yes.

- ROS: Yes.

What did you think

when you heard a journalist

from the Observer,

- looking for you?

- I thought,

"I think I know what this

is about, because the film

had come out."

HADJIMATHEOU:

How did you know Tim

and Sally Walker?

ROS: I knew Tim Walker first.

I worked for the National Trust

and he was the gardener there.

He was always

extremely well-dressed.

A man always with a cravat.

- Did you like him?

- Yes, he was pleasant.

Very pleasant.

And I think Sally

started working for Martin

in 2001.

- HADJIMATHEOU: What was

Sally like?

- ROS: Very quiet.

Never really said anything.

- Did Martin like her?

- Yes.

Seemed to get on with her.

But Martin generally

liked most people.

He was very kind

and generous.

Never wanted

to let anybody down.

He was doing

structural surveys

for house buyers.

He was drawing plans

for people to the point

where he had so many jobs

that one of his other staff

would just stick them up

in lists down the wall

and go, "Have you

done that, Martin?"

You must have been

doing very well

if he was that busy--

We should have been

and that was the problem,

we weren't.

We had no money

for years and years

and years.

And the first we really knew

something was wrong

was in 2008.

Martin said, "I gave Sally

the cash to go and pay in,

otherwise we would not be

able to pay the wages."

And he said,

"The cash didn't go

into the bank."

Martin started

looking backwards

through every cheque

with the bank manager,

he said, "That's not

my signature.

That's not my signature."

That's the point she said,

"I will ring the police."

Martin and I

took the books home

for the whole time

she'd worked for us

and started

working backwards.

It took months.

HADJIMATHEOU:

In the end, how much

was missing altogether?

We felt there was 64,000.

Had she been

stealing for years?

She had, yes.

- What did you do?

- Oh, we told the police.

- What did they say?

- They said,

"We'll arrest her."

- They took her into custody?

- They did.

And...

All she said

was "no comment"

all day.

And as she was not considered

a danger to the community,

we let her go home

on the understanding she'd

come back the next morning.

And he said, "It's a bit

embarrassing we've lost her."

(LINE RINGING)

- WOMAN: Hello.

- Hi, how are you?

Hi, Chloe.

HADJIMATHEOU: Ros gave me

the number of one of Martin's

former employees

who she says can corroborate

what she's told me.

Tell me what it was like

working for Martin.

Did Sally fit into the office

quite easily?

Was she quickly

one of the team?

WOMAN: They, as a family

kept very much to themselves,

but she would just pass

pleasantries.

She talked about her family,

her children, mainly,

you know, and everything

costing so much

and no money to do this,

that or the other.

When was the first inkling

that something was wrong

with the finances

at the office?

Did-- Was there

any kind of, um, clue

before Martin found out?

The one occasion

I can remember

was when

the accountants phoned

and they wanted

to speak to Martin about

the new engine on his van.

And then Sally saw the message

and just, and she, said,

"I know what that's about,

I'll deal with that."

And so... And so Martin

didn't have a new engine

in his van then?

No, that was just

a made-up invoice.

Oh, wow.

WOMAN: And she came in

one day and said,

"Guess what

I did last night."

she said, "We've gone

and bought a house in France."

HADJIMATHEOU: Wow.

WOMAN:

Both Martin and myself

were thinking,

"Wow, that's

very nice for you."

(CHUCKLES)

(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)

RAYNOR: Moth and I met

when we were teenagers,

when we were 30-ish,

found an idyllic little ruin

in the hills of Wales

that we spent 20 years

restoring.

Our children grew up there,

kept sheep, grew vegetables,

that's our life,

but in the background,

we had a financial dispute

with a lifetime friend

that ended in a court case.

Saw us being served

an eviction notice

from our home.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

ROS: Somebody,

several years later,

I think it was ex-office staff,

were given the book.

And they said

they'd read it

and that Sally said

she'd lost all her money

in a business deal.

And it made me so cross.

I thought why can't she just say

she'd done this terrible thing,

stolen the money,

lost her house,

why doesn't she just...

Be honest?

HADJIMATHEOU:

So, what happened

after Sally went missing?

ROS:

The next thing we heard,

our solicitor said

that an unnamed client

wanted to pay back

everything she owed Martin

on the understanding

that he would sign

an agreement

that he wouldn't

disclose this.

Martin signed this agreement?

He signed it, I didn't.

It's nothing to do with me.

- You got the money back.

- Yeah.

As part of the deal,

Martin had to agree

- never to talk about it again.

- He did, yes.

HADJIMATHEOU:

What I'm interested in is,

why the police decided

not to pursue the case

anyway?

ROS: What I gathered

from the Detective Constable

who dealt with us,

it's not really worth it.

They'll probably just tell her

off and give her a bit of

community service.

You've got the money back,

go away and enjoy it.

Just soul destroying,

and for Martin

it was soul destroying.

Four years later, he died.

Poor Martin. It's awful.

NARRATOR:

I will proceed to judgement.

I'll give possession

to claimant.

You will have vacated

the property in seven days.

And now we had lost it all,

penniless, homeless.

HADJIMATHEOU:

There's this moment

when a story comes your way

when you realize,

there is a mystery

to be unpicked

and it's

incredibly exciting.

Raynor Winn,

famous international author,

had been accused of stealing

tens of thousands of pounds

from Ros's husband, Martin.

But I had more work to do

to understand

how all this related

to the story Raynor

was telling in her memoir

and repeating

in countless interviews.

ALEX: For anybody

who doesn't

know the story,

can you explain

why yourself and

your husband

embarked on this journey,

this walk?

My husband Moth and I,

we'd had a...

financial dispute

with a lifetime friend

- that ended in--

- JASON: They got conned.

You can't say it but I can,

you got conned.

Anyway, we ended

in a court case.

That saw us being evicted

from our home.

HADJIMATHEOU: I wanted

to find out exactly why

Raynor and Moth were evicted

and forced to leave Wales.

And a logical starting point

was their house in Pwllheli.

This is where they lived

for two decades,

where they raised their children

and which they eventually lost.

(SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR:

We stood at the front door,

the bailiffs on the other side

waiting to change the locks,

to bar us

from our old lives.

We were about to leave

the dimly lit,

centuries old house that

had held us cocooned

for 20 years.

It was our home,

our business,

our sanctuary.

So l didn't

expect it to end.

MAXINE: Watch your head

as you come in.

That's it.

HADJIMATHEOU:

So this must be the barn

they spent ages renovating.

MAXINE: Yes.

That's right, yeah.

It had been empty

for three and a half,

four years

before I bought it

from the bank.

I was up in the corner

and I saw what I thought

was rough plaster.

When I looked closer,

I found an inscription.

- Can I have a look, where?

- Just in the corner here.

- Yeah.

- I can make it out...

- MAXINE: Just tucked away.

- "Tim heart Sal.

Kiss, kiss, kiss."

- There's a date.

- Yeah.

I think it says 2007.

HADJIMATHEOU:

When I was coming in,

I spoke to one

of your neighbors.

They told me the Walkers fled

in the middle of the night.

MAXINE:

I'd heard that.

HADJIMATHEOU: When the bailiffs

came in the morning,

the property was empty.

They'd ripped everything out

and gone.

MAXINE:

All of a sudden,

there were vans

coming and going,

and next day,

they'd disappeared.

NARRATOR: The men in black

began hammering

at the door at 9:00 a.m.

but we weren't ready.

The bailiffs moved to the back,

banging on the windows,

trying all the catches,

looking for a way in.

Hiding under the stairs

had seemed a good option.

HADJIMATHEOU: So you moved

in here years after

the Walkers had left.

But you're still

getting letters for them.

MAXINE: Yeah, yeah.

From day one, you know.

Nearly every day

something was coming

or every week I should say,

and they were,

um, from solicitors,

from bailiffs,

and it just

went on and on.

HADJIMATHEOU:

They owed a lot of money.

MAXINE:

I presume so, yeah.

The bailiffs were coming.

It was a bit scary.

HADJIMATHEOU:

What did people locally

think of them?

Did they have

a good reputation?

I never heard

anything positive.

People like to gossip,

don't they? And they

probably like to gossip

on the negative stuff

more than the positive stuff.

But curiously,

I was just thinking recently,

I never met anyone

who said they

were their friends.

Which is a bit curious

for a couple who'd

lived here for a long time.

NARRATOR: We'd lost.

Lost the case.

Lost the house.

And lost ourselves.

It was then

I spotted a book

in a packing box.

I'd read 500 Mile Walkies

in my 20s.

The story of a man who walked

the South West Coast path

with his dog.

"We could just walk."

It was ridiculous to say

but I said it anyway.

"Walk?'"

"Yeah, just walk'"

Could Moth walk it?

HADJIMATHEOU:

Sally and Tim did have

their house repossessed.

But I still didn't know

how it was linked

to the money

Sally had used to pay back

Ros's husband, Martin.

I needed more evidence,

I needed to dig, I needed

to find legal documents.

When I went

to the Land Registry,

I got this letter

saying the property

was repossessed by somebody

who had lent this couple

more than 100,000

with their house

as collateral for that loan.

After some digging,

I discovered that the lender

was a relative of Tim Walker

and that he'd passed away

in 2015.

It took me a long time

but I managed to trace

his ex-wife.

She wanted

to remain anonymous,

but she remembered

that one day in 2010,

Sally had turned up

out of the blue to speak

to her husband.

REBECCA: He told me

she was on the run

from the police.

He said,

"No member of my family

is going to prison."

HADJIMATHEOU:

This woman,

I'm calling her Rebecca,

she told me that her husband

lent her 100,000.

This was the money Sally used

to pay back Martin Hemmings.

A family loan

had come to her rescue,

but later, when Tim's

relative got into

financial trouble himself,

he transferred the debt

to people he owed money to.

And they called it in.

Sally and Tim couldn't pay,

and that's how they

lost their house.

It was like

a curtain being pulled.

Suddenly, you get

this view of a story

that is so different.

Raynor Winn looked like

a totally different person

suddenly.

She had taken

real aspects of her story

and recast them

in a very different light.

And maybe we all do this

to some extent.

But when you market a memoir

as "unflinchingly honest"

and you're prepared

to go on the sofa

on The One Show

and say,

"This is the truth."

I think there is

a public interest

in telling the reality

is very, very different.

RAYNOR:

We ended in a court case.

That saw us being evicted from

our home.

They gave us

a few days to move out.

And in that week,

uh, Moth had what we thought

was just a routine hospital

appointment

but it turned out

to be anything but.

He was diagnosed with a--

a neurodegenerative condition.

HADJIMATHEOU:

The start of The Salt Path

tells us the story

of Moth and Raynor losing

their house,

but what makes it so dramatic

is the very same week,

Moth also gets

a terminal diagnosis.

I now knew the story

behind their eviction

wasn't true,

but the anonymous tip-off

that started my investigation

raised another question

about Moth's health.

(KEYBOARD CLACKING)

JASON: Told to go home.

RAYNOR: Yeah.

Get ready to say goodbye,

avoid the stairs.

They did say.

That was the only advice

they could give,

don't get too tired.

Be careful on the stairs.

So we walked 630 miles.

- (ALL LAUGH)

- Instead.

NARRATOR:

I don't think I can bear

to stay around here.

I need to put some space

between Wales and us.

It's too painful to stay.

I took a deep breath,

"Let's pack

the rucksacks then,

and make it up

as we go along."

"South West Coast path

it is then."

(PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING)

HADJIMATHEOU:

I read about CBD,

I spoke to some experts

and learnt that it was

a rare degenerative disease.

Patients suffering

with this condition,

uh, would very rapidly lose

the use of their limbs.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

It made me want

to understand more

about the walk

that had apparently

healed Moth.

So I set off

to retrace their steps.

One of the first people

Raynor and Moth meet

is in Glastonbury,

where they stop off

near the start of the path.

(CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Look at this,

I'd spotted the poster

all over town.

Healing with angels

at heavenly end.

3 each. Shall we go?

Just for the Glastonbury

experience

and what if

it wasn't just hokum,

what if it could help him?

(CHORAL MUSIC CONTINUES)

- Okay, so we'd start

with a candle.

- (HANG PLAYING)

And then just gently

set fire to the sage

and have a big...

HADJIMATHEOU:

I was curious to see

what Michelle,

real name Daisy Foss,

remembered about them.

NARRATOR: Michelle set

her stage to the tune

of South American pipes

and whale calls,

lighting a burner that filled

the room with

"breath of heaven" smoke.

I know what we called it

in college

and it wasn't

"breath of heaven."

(HANG CONTINUES PLAYING)

HADJIMATHEOU:

Can you remember

when Raynor Winn and Moth

came to one

of your sessions?

I do remember them.

I've gone over the evening

and I close my eyes.

I can see them

in front of me.

They're lying

next to each other.

Her description

of the entire

sort of session,

there's an insinuation

there is kind of marijuana

being pumped into the room.

Was there any marijuana,

- were people

smoking it in there--

- Absolutely not, no.

Hundred percent, not.

What she would smell

was the sage.

In the book,

in her description

of the session,

it sounds like Moth finds it

very difficult to get up

and it has

a sort of bad effect

on him, physically.

NARRATOR:

Moth carried on snoring.

I prodded him awake,

"Moth, get up."

"I can't."

"I know you're comfy

but just get up now."

"No, I can't.

I can't move."

"f*ck, do you

think this is it?"

"Am I paralyzed?

I can't move."

If somebody

was really poorly,

I'd give extra

hands-on healing.

So I'm not sure

if I did that to Moth.

But I-- that's what

I would've done

if somebody was

in great pain.

I don't remember him

being in great pain.

I remember him

being very deep

in relaxation.

That's where

the snoring came from.

HADJIMATHEOU: Raynor writes

that it takes two weeks

of sleeping at a friend's

for Moth's pain and sickness

to wear off.

They then get the bus

to Minehead, in Somerset

to start the walk,

as seen in this

revealing interview.

RAYNOR: I was 50.

My husband was

a little older.

He was struggling

to put his coat on

without help.

And just to get the rucksack

onto his back was hard work

because I had to lift it up for

him to put his arms through.

So--

It wasn't possibly the most

responsible thing that we

could've chosen to do.

NARRATOR: It would mean

climbing the equivalent

of Mount Everest

nearly four times.

Walking 630 miles on a path

often no more than a foot wide.

Sleeping wild, living wild.

HADJIMATHEOU:

So Raynor and Moth

are doing this on tiny budget,

less than 50 a week

and they're surviving

on a really low calorie intake,

just essentially super noodles.

It's the last thing

you wanna do

on a walk like this

especially if

physically unwell.

There's this moment

where they cross over from

Devon into Cornwall.

It's a hot day,

they're on a beach.

They're thirsty and they bump

into a guy called Grant

who buys them

some ice creams.

There you go.

20, 21...

My round.

- Oh, right.

- Hey.

Hi. Thanks.

HADJIMATHEOU: I'd been

desperately trying to find out

who the real Grant was,

and all of a sudden,

I get an email from

a guy called Warren

who said he'd read my article

and he wanted to talk.

- Hi. How you doing?

- Hello.

- HADJIMATHEOU:

So nice to finally meet you.

- You too. Hello.

I don't know, is it,

"Hi, Grant" or "Hi, Warren"?

So anyway, the book,

look I've brought my copy.

I read your article and thought,

"That's those people we met."

I remember talking

how they'd lost their house.

They got done in

on a business deal.

We drove back in my van.

And they came in

and they had lasagna.

NARRATOR:

We sat in the back of Grant's

sleek 4x4.

"We've got a huge lasagna,

so plenty of food."

All we heard was lasagna

and beer.

Suddenly our legs

weren't so tired.

WARREN:

They stayed in the orchard

then had bacon sandwiches

in the morning

and off they went.

It strikes me

you took in these two people

who you could see were tired,

were having a hard time of it.

But in the book it makes it

sound like you're

quite a superficial,

- very sort of well-off--

- That's an understatement.

It's not nice.

Not kind.

It's this description of these

three extremely sexy women

who sort of surround Moth

and flutter around him

and take him to another room

and massaging him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Where's the pain?

- I'm a masseuse.

- Oh. Right.

- It's everywhere.

- Let her give you a massage.

Grant's got back issues.

- Give him a message.

- Want one?

Deep tissue,

it's quite intense.

Um...

Crikey, I'll have

to shower first.

The girls can sort you out.

WARREN:

He never had a massage.

Certainly our autistic son's

childminder was not gonna go

and massage

somebody else's feet.

No way.

And the other thing that really

sort of struck me is that...

You and the women

in your household

all mistook Moth

for Simon Armitage.

- Yeah.

- The poet.

And the insinuation is that,

that's the only reason

- you invited him back.

- I know.

We never thought he was a poet.

We don't know who they were

alluding to.

This idea someone

being massaged

because they're a famous poet,

what a bunch of crap, you know.

So the year that

she came is correct.

The lasagna is correct.

Yeah, but apart from that,

not many true bits

in her story. (CHUCKLES)

There's lasagna here.

HADJIMATHEOU: When Raynor

and Moth meet Grant, they're

going through a hard time.

And he's extremely kind

and generous towards them.

- Mm. It's so good.

- WARREN: It is, isn't it?

HADJIMATHEOU:

If you were walking

for days and days

eating super noodles and you

suddenly sat down and had

this...

WARREN: It'd be nice.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Grant reveals his own

life story and hardships,

but none of that

is acknowledged

by Raynor Winn in the book.

She really has

a divisive us

and them attitude

in which really her and Moth are

the only victims in the book.

This isn't just Grant.

It's with lots

of the characters

she meets along

the Salt Path.

The readers

didn't know any of that

and they opened their hearts

to Raynor and Moth

and felt very sorry for them

and the book really

resonated with them.

When I published

my investigation,

I got a number of readers

contacting me.

Most of them were furious

that they'd been duped

by the book.

I did also have people

contacting me

who were angry with me

and they felt I'd been

unfair to Raynor and Moth

and they just didn't get

why I bothered with

this investigating,

but I guess

there is, uh, sort of innate

stubbornness in me.

I don't let things go.

And if I am persuaded

there is something there

to be discovered,

I will keep going with it.

So after The Salt Path

was published,

Raynor Winn was offered

a multi-book deal.

The couple moved to Cornwall,

where she continued to write

about her and Moth's walks

across the UK.

MAN:

I've been here

since 1966.

Lived here all my life.

I don't have to walk too far

to the pub.

People are great.

It's a real nice

community feel.

We tend to get lots of walkers

doing the coast path.

Two, three, four, 50.

There you go.

- WOMAN: Ta now.

- Thank you.

I love it.

Lovely people around.

Quiet, nice little locals.

There's nowhere

quite like Cornwall.

You walk down,

everyone says "Morning."

Everyone's welcoming.

Thank you.

I'll give you

autograph later.

I'm living here

one and half

year now.

Nice, peaceful life.

Walk around,

it's beautiful people here.

Everybody, everybody.

HADJIMATHEOU:

In 2019, Raynor and Moth

moved to Hay Farm

which sits above the village

of Polruan

and it's where they lived

until 2022.

It was during this time that

she wrote both her second

book, The Wild Silence,

and her third book,

Landlines.

I tracked down

one of their neighbors

who's also an author.

I had high hopes that she'd had

a connection with Raynor Winn

and she might give me

more insight.

Hi.

All right, Squeaks.

Can we come in,

say hello?

Hello.

- Oh!

- (LAUGHS)

Lovely creatures.

- Was Raynor interested in

horses ever?

- Don't think she's horsey, no.

HADJIMATHEOU:

When's the first time

you met them?

SABERTON:

So I first met her

at an authors' event,

so in 2019, I met her

professionally.

Before I even lived here.

And then when

we bought this property,

that was when

the neighbor said to us,

"Well, my tenant,

your neighbor,

is Raynor Winn."

He said, "Obviously they're

really private people."

They've been

really hurt in the past.

And they, you know,

want to be left in peace.

I was really

respectful of that.

But I was excited

'cause it was

really nice to think

there might be

somebody nearby

to talk books to.

- HADJIMATHEOU:

What was she like?

- She was lovely.

I'd say she's very shy.

- Very nervous.

- Mmm.

SABERTON:

I put that down to the fact

I'd read the book by then.

That they'd had

such a torrid time.

Didn't want to let

anybody get close.

I really wanted to talk

about her journey

'cause in the world

of memoir writing,

she's a rock star.

But looking back,

she didn't want

to talk about it at all.

She doesn't open her,

herself to people.

But he does. Moth.

He's a very tall guy.

He's a handsome man.

Piercing eyes.

He had so much

presence.

He's warm and friendly

and talkative.

And a great raconteur.

He really did tell

some great stories.

NARRATOR: Moth spun a story

of golden summers

spent under canvas.

Of changing weather

unfolding around two people

living wild in nature.

The woman sat mesmerized

caught by his stories.

Spellbound as

people always are.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Did he seem unwell?

It's hard to say. You can't

really tell by looking,

but he always seemed full of

vitality and humor.

I didn't question it too much

'cause what sort of person

would you be if you start

questioning it.

HADJIMATHEOU: And then

what about when her book

Landlines came out?

Landlines is set

in the period

I knew them.

Right.

I was excited 'cause I thought

I'll recognize this story now

because this is

the place I live,

the farm I know,

the area that's my home.

And chapter one

is January 2021.

It's winter and it's bleak.

She's freezing cold.

She's struggling.

It was clear,

they weren't coping.

He was

deteriorating massively.

There was one awful bit

where he can't make it

to the bathroom.

I think the quote is like,

"We lay together

in a pool of pee."

And I read it and I,

I just, I started crying.

The more I read,

the worse I felt.

Because these were

my neighbors.

I thought they were

wanting to be brave.

I thought they didn't

want to let people in

because of the--

the friendships they'd had

where they're betrayed.

I felt bad for not realizing

what was going on.

But I was confused

because that situation

wasn't what I'd seen.

HADJIMATHEOU: You're seeing

him out and about

and seems okay.

He seems okay

but he's in nature,

isn't he?

The kind of secular miracle

of nature healing

so I've got this cognitive

dissonance between

what I'm seeing

and what I'm reading.

And I'm trying to equate it

in my heart and my head.

And it's-- I can't.

I went through each book.

I started to make copious notes

about what made sense

and what didn't.

And suddenly, all these

things that I'd just read

and just accepted,

when I looked at

with a more objective

and maybe

a cooler critical eye

just didn't make sense.

I'd suspended

my critical mind

and allowed myself

to fall headlong in love

with this beautiful story.

HADJIMATHEOU:

During my investigation

I was speaking to readers

of The Salt Path,

many of whom told me

they were incredibly moved

by Moth's battle

with his illness,

corticobasal degeneration.

At the start of the book,

he's struggling to get

his rucksack on

and just over a month later,

he's made this really quite

remarkable recovery

and there's a scene

where a fast, incoming tide

is threatening their tent

and he comes physically

to the rescue.

Leave the bloody tent.

I'm not leaving it.

It's our home.

(GRUNTS)

HADJIMATHEOU:

It was this moving moment

in the film as well.

Oh! Look at you.

How you can move.

Come on.

It's amazing. Ah!

(GRUNTS TRIUMPHANTLY)

(YELLING)

(SOBBING)

NARRATOR:

He'd changed.

There was no question.

He'd changed.

I'm stronger. I feel as if

I can put one foot

in front of the other

and trust

where it'll land.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING)

HADJIMATHEOU:

I started speaking

to neurologists

and what I discovered was

that Moth's condition

corticobasal degeneration

is really quite brutal

and very rapid progressing.

Is it possible

that his symptoms

were reversed

because of some kind of

chemical, biological,

medical response

to the walks that they had?

- (PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING)

- (DOG BARKS DISTANTLY)

In July, I was contacted

by a guy called John,

and he told me he had

read The Salt Path

and it had given him

a lot of hope.

He sent me this email.

"Chloe, I have

corticobasal syndrome

and feel devastated

by your revelations

about The Salt Path.

I've been reading the book

and found that my

diagnosis was similar."

JOHN: How are you?

HADJIMATHEOU: Really good

to see you.

"My wife and I were

inspired by the story and

given real hope.

If you are right

then that hope

is extinguished.

I can and will deal with it

but my wife may not."

- Have a seat.

- Thank you.

I was so affected

by that that morning.

JOHN: I remember

you saying, yeah.

Think in the email,

I probably--

I tend to tell you

what I mean.

HADJIMATHEOU:

John was diagnosed

with CBD in 2023.

Are you in any pain?

I have a lot of stiffness

and sometimes my hands

and my legs

are very stiff and painful.

How did The Salt Path book,

Raynor Winn's memoir,

first sort of enter

your consciousness?

A lady from the hospice

recommended the book

and said

there's a book out.

And she said

it's a really uplifting book

that, you know,

you might like

to read.

'Cause I'd never actually

come across anyone

with the condition.

I was engrossed in it.

Like...

I thought, "This is great",

you know?

'cause I'd started to doubt

that maybe, just maybe,

I need to sort of up my game

and fight it

'cause I wasn't fighting it,

you see,

because I'd been told

that it was pointless and

I'd just expend a lot of energy

fighting this condition.

So when I sort of

read this book

where this guy

seems to be doing

all kinds of incredible feats

of endurance and...

I was astonished.

I believed it.

I wanted to believe it.

And then

I saw your article.

I was upset.

I really didn't want

any part

of your investigation

to be correct.

HADJIMATHEOU: Moth's story

was so inspirational

to so many people

that he became an ambassador

for the charity PSPA,

which helps sufferers

with CBD.

They've since terminated

their relationship with Moth.

MOTH:

To be told you have

a terminal condition

that there's

no treatment for

and there is definitely

no cure

that was startling.

This whole CBD journey

started with a...

HADJIMATHEOU:

Dr. James Gratwicke

is a neurologist

who specializes

in corticobasal degeneration

and has been diagnosing it

for 20 years.

He was very interested

to see Moth in this video.

This is a man who claims

to have had this condition

for 18 years.

How does what you see

in this video

correspond to your experience

of treating patients

with the condition?

One thing's often very prominent

is loss of facial expression

and this is excellent

facial expression.

No problem with movement.

Certainly at 18 years,

I've never seen a CBS patient

walking very well

with good stride length.

MOTH:

CBD is a very

lonely existence.

Terminal condition, no cure.

Nobody gets it.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Dr. Gratwicke offered

to show me some scans

to demonstrate the effects

that CBD typically has

on a patient's brain.

JAMES: So what we're seeing here

is the amount of the chemical

dopamine in the brain.

The higher the amount

of dopamine chemical there,

the brighter the color.

This is what you should see

with a healthy brain.

Very, very bright signal.

What we would see

in corticobasal syndrome,

the concentration

will be less in these areas.

In a sense,

the whole brain gets darker

and points of light

are much smaller.

JAMES: Correct.

NARRATOR: Well, we've got

your DAT scan results.

Would you like to see them?

Moth glances at me.

Briefly raising an eyebrow.

"'I'd like to see the screen

lit up like a Christmas tree."

The consultant smiles.

Turning back to the screen.

"There you have it.

There's your Christmas tree."

HADJIMATHEOU:

In her third book, Landlines,

Raynor Winn talks about

Moth having

- brain scans.

- Right.

The neurologist says

the lights in Moth's brain

seem to be coming back on.

Is that something

you'd see in a patient

with corticobasal syndrome?

Um, that is not consistent

with corticobasal syndrome.

Or any Parkinsonian condition.

You won't get improvement

in a DAT scan.

It's only ever been shown

to be a progressive

degenerative process

and nothing anyone has done

has been able to increase

the brain mass

or reverse the loss of

dopaminergic cells

to make a scan brighter.

That does not happen.

And if by

some medical miracle,

- and do medical

miracles happen?

- Um, no.

HADJIMATHEOU:

And if it did happen,

would you expect that doctor

to be excited and to want

to publish about it?

It's almost a duty to publish

that kind of thing.

But you haven't

seen anyone publish

anything about somebody

with corticobasal syndrome

suddenly reversing

the condition?

If it had been published,

I would've seen it, yes.

There's no effective

treatment for it,

nothing to slow down

the progression

of the disease.

HADJIMATHEOU:

In 2023, Moth made

a rare appearance

on Rick Stein's series

in Cornwall.

RICK: Moth has thrown himself

into the art of traditional

cider making.

Much like you would chalk

the end of a snooker cue.

RICK: Amazing.

HADJIMATHEOU: This was when

he and Raynor were living

at Hay Farm close to Ruth.

- Way of controlling,

how much pressure.

- Fine tuning.

- You got this

terminal illness, is it?

- Yes, it is.

But I'm still going strong

thanks to walking

the coast path.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Moth is demonstrating

the really demanding

physical work

of traditional cider making

a full 16 years

since he claims the symptoms

of his disease began.

JAMES:

From point of diagnosis

of corticobasal syndrome,

the median survival time

is between

five to eight years.

The longest person

that's survived

I have treated, uh,

is eight or nine years.

They were requiring

24-hour care.

However difficult that is

to hear, very important

for people to know.

And giving that idea

that it could be reversed

through walking

large distances

could make patient feel

they were responsible

for its worsening,

and that would be wrong.

When we realized Moth's

was improving,

it added

a little layer of hope

into our life.

We thought

we'd never feel again.

And yeah, you can go

a long way on hope.

(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)

JOHN:

I've always loved walking.

I really wanted

the book to be true.

HADJIMATHEOU:

How did you feel

when my article came out?

JOHN: I was angry.

The danger is that,

people are going to think

if they copy what

the Walkers did,

that everything's

gonna be hunky dory

and it'll all go away.

HADJIMATHEOU:

The idea that Raynor and Moth

hadn't been honest

about his health condition,

that's quite

a difficult thing

to report on.

And it became clear to me

very quickly

that I wouldn't be able

to prove categorically

that these people

had lied.

But what I could prove

was that their description

of the illness,

the passage of the illness

and the way in which

they'd reversed

the symptoms

was not something

that had ever

been documented

or experienced by a neurologist

I had spoken to in the UK.

(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)

When I first set out

on this investigation,

first thing I did

was contact

Raynor and Moth.

I've contacted them

probably half a dozen times.

And they've refused

all my requests.

Raynor was initially

coming to this year's festival

to talk about her books

and her latest book

but she pulled out

of all public speaking events

when Chloe's research

was revealed.

HADJIMATHEOU:

I was invited to speak

at Dulverton Literary Festival

and it's gonna be

really interesting

to find out

what readers of

The Salt Path think now

given my investigation.

Finding out how much there was

untruth to it was just wild.

It was the part

about Moth and his illness

that really shocked me.

WOMAN:

It is a book about a walk.

Not about something

world-changing.

Just enjoy the book

that would be my view.

(CHUCKLES)

I think with every story

there's always a bit of fiction

added with the truth.

A memoir needs to be

reasonably authentic

to the truth otherwise

it's fiction, isn't it?

(APPLAUSE)

RACHEL:

So Raynor Winn continues

to maintain

and she repeats over and over,

this is the true story

of our journey,

but in publishing terms,

these terms

are very important.

You would've gone

to Penguin and say,

"What do you say,

you've published

this as a true story

of this couple's journey,

you've sold millions of copies,

they've made millions,

you've made millions

it's all a load of crap."

What did

the publishers say?

They said, "Nobody raised

any concerns with us."

They say, "We did

all due diligence."

And that's it.

That's the end of that.

I was such a believer that

when I had a, I think our 30th

wedding anniversary I--

I told my husband

who'd just been diagnosed,

- I said, "I know, let's walk

the South West coastal."

- (LAUGHTER)

And I was completely

bought into it.

I just lapped it up

like so many other people.

'Cause you weren't looking.

You weren't looking

to check untruth in it.

Actually, when you

pick up a book,

a memoir, and don't see it

coming from there,

so you open your heart to it

in a way you might not

in other areas of your life.

When I started,

I'd never read The Salt Path.

And you know, now,

it's consuming all my time

but I never got to read it

like the average reader.

I always read it

with a suspicious mind

and to my eye, there were

obvious red flags in it.

And I just had so many questions

about the publisher.

Couldn't they see

what I was seeing?

Didn't they ever

have any suspicions?

I tried to get someone from

Penguin to engage with me

for weeks

but didn't have any luck

but eventually I did find

a former employee of Penguin,

Amelia Fairney,

to talk to me.

She worked for them

for almost two decades

and she was at Penguin

when The Salt Path was

published.

- Hi.

- AMELIA: How are you?

HADJIMATHEOU:

Really good to meet you.

AMELIA:

Yeah, nice to meet you too.

Oh, this is

the memoir section.

I can see The Salt Path

down here.

She's got this

and The Wild Silence

and a third book, Landlines.

There's a fourth book.

I'm not sure

on the publication date

for that book.

- It was in October.

- Was it? Right.

Penguin announced it's delayed

because of the revelations.

Do you think they still have

aspirations to put that out?

I'm sure they do.

- Really?

- Yes.

- 100 percent.

- Despite the revelations?

Well, once

your investigation

came out,

Salt Path went to the top

of the bestseller list.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Were you at Penguin

when The Salt Path

- was first published?

- AMELIA: Yeah.

I definitely remember the buzz

internally around the book.

The Salt Path has sold

more than two million books,

translated into 25 languages.

- Is that really huge?

- Yes. (LAUGHS)

Yes. You would consider

a book a huge hit

if it has sold 100,000 copies.

- Once you're

getting into millions...

- That's really massive.

I think post-pandemic

particularly,

I think a heart-warming story

of an illness

which is mediated

by contact with nature,

it really tapped

into something at the time

and proved a huge hit.

Were you surprised

when my investigation

was published?

No. I wasn't surprised.

Book publishing

has a slightly

genteel image,

but it is a very

cut-throat competitive

commercial industry.

There is a pressure

to publish a lot and fast.

When you've got

a phenomenon book

like The Salt Path,

I can see why you would

just want to get

those books out there

as quickly as possible.

It's very difficult

to be a lone voice

saying, "You know,

actually I think some

of these medical claims

are overblown

in this manuscript by our

multimillion copy selling

star author."

You know,

that's really difficult.

HADJIMATHEOU:

What were the fact checking

processes for memoirs

when you were at Penguin?

AMELIA: Well, there isn't

a formal fact checking

process.

The author's contract states

they will deliver a manuscript

that is factually correct.

- Essentially on trust.

- Absolutely.

The onus is on the author.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Would Raynor Winn have signed

a contract

saying she was

legally responsible

for the truth

- of these memoirs?

- Yeah, that would be

in the contract.

REPORTER: We spoke

to Raynor and asked her

why she felt her story

connected with

so many people.

I think The Salt Path

had such a universal, um...

theme to it, really.

The question of what we do

when everything falls apart,

when life really

hits the wall,

how do we stand up?

How to go forward?

And that's a shared

human question

and brings up

many shared

human emotions.

WOMAN: Being out in nature

and how it can redeem and

make you feel better,

I think that is true.

I think anybody

going through

difficult times,

it gives you hope

you can do something

to make life better for you.

Walking and trekking,

that's my way of dealing with

quite difficult

things in my life

and I'm thankful for that.

So I really did feel

that I got it.

When they were

nearly blown away

by wind and sea,

I've been there,

I've done it.

So for me, it was great.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Raynor Winn's response

to my investigation was,

"Yes, well, this is our truth.

It's mine and Moth's truth,

Where is the harm?

Does it matter?"

A memoir is always

gonna present

a partial version

of events because it's

a subjective narrative,

but what gave these

books power was the fact

it was a true story.

People related to them,

to the real people,

so I don't think it would've

carried quite as much force

as a novel.

If you're publishing

something as a true story

then you are deceiving

your audience

if it's later found

not to be true.

I think that people

do trust books.

If something is printed

in between bound covers,

I think the general public

does still trust those words.

And I personally think

it would be a huge shame

to jeopardize that.

So realistically, what changes

could Penguin implement?

I do think that publishing needs

to take a look in the mirror

and if that means that it takes

a bit longer to publish a book

or an editor needs to be working

on fewer books at a time,

surely, it's worth it.

But there's no incentive

for them to change anything.

Your investigation

actually sent The Salt Path

back to the top of

the bestseller charts.

So in terms

of the publisher's

bottom line...

- I helped?

- Yeah.

- MAN 1: And a little

smile please. (LAUGHS)

- MAN 2: Thank you.

REPORTER:

What are you most proud of

about the film?

I feel like it faithfully

represents the book.

I really feel like,

collectively,

we got it right.

REPORTER:

What has life been like

since you wrote that book?

Oh, it's just

changed and grown

in different ways

that I would never

have expected.

HADJIMATHEOU: What's really

crazy about this investigation

is that,

each time

I pull on a thread,

it seems astounding.

A new angle was

coming together,

one that involved

people closest

to Raynor and Moth,

or Sally and Tim, and their

desire to see the truth

become public.

I hadn't tried to reach out

to their families.

I'd assumed that if I did,

I couldn't have imagined

they'd speak to me.

Members of Moth's family

came forward.

And I spoke to them.

It was clear there was

a massive rift in the families.

Both sides were

suffering deep hurt over

Sally and Tim's actions.

Eventually,

I traced Sally Walker's niece.

She told me

that she had

a confession letter

and this seemed to be

written by Sally Walker,

confessing to a series

of thefts.

I said, if you give me

permission I'd like

to share this

with Tim's family who I've been

speaking to for months,

and who I think,

given what's in this letter

might be prepared

to come forward,

so you wouldn't

be doing it alone,

and she agreed.

So I'm pretty nervous today

because finally,

they've said that they are

willing to come to London

and meet me,

but they're very, very nervous.

Everyone is very, very nervous.

These family members

haven't seen each other

in decades.

- Hello, guys.

- WOMAN 1: Hello.

- WOMAN 2: Hello.

- MAN: Hi.

- WOMAN 2: Can I hug you?

- WOMAN 1: Yes.

- So nice to meet you.

- Yeah. Nice to--

We've changed

their names and with

the exception of "Cecille",

they all asked to keep

their identities private.

- I don't remember you at all.

- MAN: It's a long time ago.

I don't know quite

what's happened to time.

- And I don't know

who to expect--

- Oh, same here. Yeah, yeah.

WOMAN:

Do you wanna grab a seat?

HADJIMATHEOU: The woman

we're calling "Fiona'"

is another of Tim's relatives.

And "Anne" is Sally's niece.

She's brought the letters.

What was it like for you reading

that article for the first time?

Well, for me,

I called my sister,

and I called her and I said,

"Oh, my God,

it's finally happening.

Someone knows."

Anne, you've brought

these letters to show

to Cecille and Fiona.

Can you tell me about them?

ANNE: So I've got

confession letters here.

Letters with Sally

confessing to stealing on top

of the Ros Hemmings,

where she openly admits to

stealing from my grandparents

and Tim's parents.

We have Sally basically saying,

"This is why I took the money.

Why I took the money

from your grandparents."

My grandmother

put them in a box

and gave them to Mum.

I was told where they were,

to keep them

because one day

I might need them.

I just can't believe

the evidence exists

for what she did.

"Please don't look any further

for the money.

I've taken all of it."

"The figures the bank

are giving you are correct."

"Any statements she had over

the last 18 months are fake.

I forged them."

"I ask you not to take things

further with the bank

but to tell them

it was a mistake."

"I have to ask

as I have a police record

and should this go further

I'll go to prison this time."

ANNE: She left my grandmother

no money,

forged bank statements.

It broke her

to the very core.

The daughter

who she idolized

and put on a pedestal

broke her.

"I can attempt

to explain the why."

"Tim invested half our capital

and lost all the money."

"As he became more depressed,

I became desperate

to hold him out of it

to keep some of

the real Tim alive."

"I took the money

and paid bills with it."

"If you'd asked me how much

I'd taken, I'd have said

maybe 10,000.

So when I was arrested

for the theft of 67,000,

I was stunned."

"During this time

in a mad panic,

I transferred 25,000

from Tim's Mum and Dad's

account to Tim's."

HADJIMATHEOU:

So after taking the 67,000

from Martin Hemmings,

she stole from her mother,

and she took thousands of pounds

from Tim's parents as well.

FIONA: Thousands, yeah.

Thousands.

WOMAN: It's very hard

to put a figure on these things

because they didn't

want to talk about it.

ANNE:

Nobody will ever say.

HADJIMATHEOU:

I mean, in that email,

she's categorically stating

- that she took

from both families.

- WOMAN: Yeah.

It's remarkable to see

a confession with it

written in.

HADJIMATHEOU:

What was it like in your family

when you were young?

FIONA: We're fairly close.

We used to love going to Wales.

- This is the Wales house.

Penymaes.

- The Wales house.

Tim and Sally's house was--

it was like a meeting place,

I suppose.

We used to see them

quite often.

CECILLE: I have very fond

childhood memories.

ANNE: Yeah.

They'd turn up and you're in

for some excitement.

They were

the fun uncle and auntie.

Always try to make you laugh.

Trying to do fun things.

FIONA: Especially Tim, I think.

CECILLE: Tim, he's got

this character.

ANNE:

Sally was desperately

in love with Tim.

That desperation to do

everything she can

to give Tim what he'd like.

WOMAN: Yeah, yeah.

ANNE: But I think they have

this symbiotic relationship.

WOMAN: Yeah, yeah.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Was Tim fully aware

of the finances

and what Sally was up to?

CECILLE: Tim's a character

where you don't know

what you can believe.

ANNE: He's a character

that as a child,

we would have all

found really exciting.

But as an adult

lacking total responsibility

and any connection

to reality.

FIONA:

My husband calls him

a fantasist.

When did you hear about

corticobasal degeneration?

Oh, we never

gave it serious

consideration.

I took what Tim said

with a pinch of salt.

FIONA: Put it this way.

We never worried

that he was ill.

I mean, that's awful to say

but he always made out

he was ill.

HADJIMATHEOU:

You didn't believe

much of the book then?

FIONA: Hundred percent. No.

CECILLE:

I read the first chapter.

She's making herself out

to be this victim

who'd been so hard done by

and I was so angry,

I threw the book

across the room.

ANNE:

If that was sold as fiction,

different kettle of fish.

A memoir. (SCOFFS)

And it's just a lie.

It's not fair. It's not right.

It's really not right.

And it hurt.

It hurt deeply.

It was a very strange time

to see her

rise up to be this--

so famous.

Interviews and videos

like the one

where she's on a sofa,

talking to Jason Isaacs.

Made me so angry.

He's very extroverted.

It's like meeting a tall,

slim Father Christmas.

And then

there's that video

of Tim and...

Oh, it's embarrassing.

- He sent us this message.

- What?

Jason, I just wanted to say,

what a pleasure it has been

meeting you

and an absolute honor

to see you portray me.

(CHUCKLES)

And he's like, "I never get

to portray nice people."

He says that,

but they're not nice people.

It's like a story,

you couldn't make that up.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR:

Our journey had drained us

of every emotion,

sapped our strength

and our will.

But then,

like windblown trees

along our route,

we had been reformed

by the elements

into a new shape that could

ride out whatever storms

came over

the bright new sea.

SABERTON:

We're all looking, aren't we,

for a happy ending?

When you close The Salt Path

and the other two books,

your heart is still

with Ray and Moth.

You always wonder,

how are they doing?

Is he okay?

Let's look at Instagram.

How are they getting on?

And when we find out

that we've been

mis-sold something,

we start to question

who's telling us the truth?

(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)

HADJIMATHEOU: It's about

six months now I've been

working on The Salt Path.

I was supposed to be

doing an investigation

in Syria.

I thought this was gonna be

a detour for a few weeks,

I had no idea that this story

was gonna go on and on.

I think there's a public

interest in setting

the record straight

and the important thing is,

when people have a clearer

picture of the facts,

they can make up

their own minds.

CECILLE: Because of

one person's actions,

so many people were affected.

- ANNE: They don't care

who they hurt.

- They don't care.

ANNE: She never

come back and gone,

"I'm really sorry I stole

half of all of this off Mum

and you had to help support

grandma and everything else.

I'm really sorry."

Like I presume

they've never

come back to you.

FIONA:

They don't say sorry.

- It's not just about money...

- ANNE: It's about,

- "I'm sorry.

I accept what I've done."

- Yeah.

HADJIMATHEOU:

Families are complicated

and it is hard to know

all that's gone on here.

If she really did take it,

she's worth millions now.

She could've paid

back both families

and said, "I did this

terrible thing. I don't know

where I was.

I was in

a really dark place."

What really made

an impression on me

was the fact

all this time Raynor Winn

was seen as a sort of a victim

and a vulnerable person

that people had

opened their hearts to.

It must have been hard

for family members

to watch all of that,

feeling the resentment

and hurt

they did towards her.

I wonder

what life has been like

for them carrying these

really dark secrets

for all of these years?

SABERTON:

Tim can't enjoy the spoils of

their fortunes there.

He can't enjoy

what they've earned.

If he's getting better

or he's well,

he has to not be seen.

'Cause people

will be looking.

I wonder if

she believes it now.

(MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR:

When you tell a story,

the first person

you must convince

is yourself.

If you can make yourself

believe it's true,

then everyone else

will follow.

NARRATOR:

We contacted Penguin,

the publisher of The Salt Path,

but they didn't respond.

Raynor Winn and Moth,

Sally and Tim Walker,

declined to provide

a response for the film.

In a statement published

at the time of The Observer's

first investigation,

Raynor Winn said,

"The Salt Path is about

what happened to Moth and me

after we lost our home

and found ourselves

homeless."

We're accused

of hiding behind

pseudonyms,

like most, we use these

nicknames, alongside

our real names.

The dispute

with Martin Hemmings

is not the court

case in The Salt Path.

Mr. Hemmings made an allegation

against me to the police,

accusing me

of taking money."

I was not charged.

I reached a settlement

because I did not have

the evidence required

to support what had happened.

I charted Moth's condition

with such a level of honesty.

I never sought to offer

medical advice in my books.

Or suggest that walking

might be some sort

of miracle for CBS.

The effect of the suggestion

that Moth made up

this condition

has been absolutely

traumatizing for him.

Raynor Winn denies

any thefts from the family

or writing the letter

and challenges

the families' recollections.