Raynor and Moth Winn’s redemptive journey from penury and homelessness led to a bestselling book. The truth behind it is very different
They say their names are Raynor and Moth Winn.
We have discovered that their legal names are, in fact, Sally and Tim Walker.
The Salt Path paints a picture of two blameless people who are taken advantage of by a childhood friend of Moth’s.
Cooper moved in financial circles few of us understood. But Moth kept in touch regardless, remaining friends. Trusting enough that when an opportunity arose to make an investment in one of his companies we took it, putting in a substantial sum.The Salt Path, page 9
The Observer has learned that Sally Walker was arrested after being accused of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from her employer, an estate agent where she was working as a bookkeeper.
Sally Walker then borrowed £100,000 from James (not his real name) – a relative of Moth – to repay the money she was accused of taking, and in return her ex-boss agreed not to pursue criminal charges.
The Walkers agreed that James could put the loan against their home at an interest rate of 18%, payable on demand.
Raynor Winn writes that their problems began when Cooper’s business failed and he claimed they were responsible for his debts.
Cooper became insistent that, owing to the structure of the agreement, we were liable to make payment towards those debts.The Salt Path, page 9
Cooper takes them to court and applies to take possession of their home in lieu of the debt.
In fact, it was James’s company that failed.
He told two men he owed money to that they could recoup some of their losses from Tim and Sally Walker.
In 2010, the debt on the Walkers’ home transferred from James to these men and they asked for their money.
In February 2012, the men took the Walkers to court and a judge ruled that they would have a year to find the money or their house would be sold by the men in order to recoup their money.
In The Salt Path, Raynor writes that at the last minute they find a key piece of evidence showing they were never liable for Cooper’s debts.
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We finally thought we had it, the shining white light of a piece of paper that proved that Cooper had no right to make the claim, as we didn’t owe anything... The Salt Path, page 10
But they have submitted the evidence too late and the judge rejects it. He awards possession of their house to Cooper.
We lost. Lost the case. Lost the house.The Salt Path, page 10
The Walkers tried to present a last-minute piece of evidence to the court. They claimed James’s loan came from his company that was insolvent, and so their debt should be called in by the former company. But James provided a witness statement saying this wasn’t true. He told the court he had lent the Walkers the money from his private account and urged the court to award possession of the Walkers’ house to the men that now owned the debt.
Raynor Winn says after their eviction they had no house:
Rogues, vagabonds and vagrants: however you classify the homeless, in the summer of 2013 we became two of their number.The Salt Path, page 275
In fact, documents show that the Walkers owned a property in France they had bought in 2007. It is located in the south-west of France, around an hour-and- a-half from Bordeaux.
According to The Salt Path and in interviews given by Raynor Winn, Moth was diagnosed in 2013 with corticobasal degeneration – CBD. The doctor told him that the degenerative neurological condition was fatal:
I would normally say six to eight years from onset. But yours seems to be very slow progressing as it’s already been six years since you first presented with a problem.The Salt Path, page 15
That means Tim Walker has been suffering with the condition for 18 years. He does not have any visibly acute symptoms.
Neurologists say that life expectancy with CBD is on average six to eight years.
Although there have been outlier cases of people surviving for around 12 years, they are extremely disabled by that point and would need round-the-clock care.
In each of her three books Winn describes how, after walking for weeks, Moth’s symptoms seem to get better. In her most recent book, Landlines, she describes how their walking has a very profound effect on Moth’s brain.
Moth’s scan showed he had a distinct reduction in his receptor cells, which show up as lights on the screen. His lights were undoubtedly going out.Landlines, page 26
But by the end of the book, and after a long walk from Scotland to Cornwall, Moth is scanned again and the neurologist tells them:
What we’re seeing are two sets of results. The old DAT scan, showing an abnormal reading, and this, the new one, showing a normal reading.Landlines, page 302
CBD is caused when proteins destroy cells in the brain. Neurologists say the damage this causes to the brain is devastating and irreversible.
Neurologists and researchers The Observer spoke to said they had never seen anyone live as long as Tim Walker and were surprised by his apparent lack of acute symptoms.
They told us that it is not possible to dramatically reverse the symptoms of the condition.
Photograph by Jim Wileman/Guardian/Eyevine
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