Is The Salt Path based on a true story? New claims made about Raynor and Moth Winn

Towards the beginning, we learn that they had been left homeless in the same week Moth was given a rare terminal diagnosis and told he had no more than five years to live.

But rather than succumb to these pressures, the pair chose to walk the South West Coast Path in what was presented as a hugely revitalising experience for them.

At the time, the film received mostly positive reviews – with many cinemagoers in awe of the spirit shown by the couple – but recently a new report emerged that paints the events in a rather different light.

However, that report has also now been addressed by Raynor Winn – who denies the allegations put forward in what she calls a "grotesquely unfair" account of the events.

So just how true are the events of The Salt Path? And what claims are being made about a rather less wholesome story behind the scenes? Read on for everything you need to know.

Is the Salt Path based on a true story?

Yes – or at least, that’s how it’s billed. The film is based on the story of couple Raynor and Moth Winn, as told by the former in a memoir of the same name. It follows them as they trek the 630-mile South West Coast Path after the couple had been evicted from the farm on which they lived.

According to their account, in the same week they had been left homeless, Moth had been diagnosed with a terminal condition called Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).

When Raynor spotted a copy of the Southwest Coast Path guidebook, she explained that it felt like their last chance of freedom and so they set about walking the entire length of the path.

In her book, Winn explained that Moth's condition was worsening every day at the start of their trek, but he started to regain his physical and mental well-being the longer the walk went on.

More than 10 years on, he is still alive – despite initially being given a maximum of just five years to live when he was initially diagnosed.

What are the new claims being made about the Salt Path?

In July 2025, a report in The Observer suggested that the true story behind the film – and Winn’s book – was a little more complicated than had been presented.

A long-form piece by journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou alleged that both book and film were “spun from lies, deceit and desperation” – detailing a number of apparent misrepresentations of the events as they really happened.

Perhaps the most notable of those surrounds the circumstances in which the couple – whose real names are reported to be Sally and Tim Walker – first became homeless.

According to the article, the repossession of their home came after Sally had defrauded her employer of £64,000. They had then borrowed vast amounts of money in order to repay this allegedly stolen money, building up debts that exceeded the value of the house.

The Observer writer Hadjimatheou also spoke to one person in the local area who claimed that the Walkers owed them money, while she also revealed that the couple owned a property in France.

Meanwhile, the report also questions the authenticity of Winn’s diagnosis – including input from a number of medical experts who expressed scepticism based on “the length of time he has had it, his lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.

What has been Raynor and Moth Winn's response to the allegations?

Following the publication of the article in The Observer, Raynor released a statement via literary agents Graham Maw Christie, in which they claimed the report was "highly misleading".

It continued: "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."

At the end of her statement, she reiterated: "This is the true story of our journey."

More recently, Winn posted a statement on her website to address the claims more fully, calling them "grotesquely unfair" and "highly misleading"

She shared images which appeared to show medical experts referring to Moth's diagnosis, calling The Observer’s claims on the legitimacy of his condition "the most unbearable of the allegations".

She also explained that the embezzling case referred to in The Observer was a separate matter not related to the court case which saw her and Moth lose their home, and reiterated that the version of events put forward in her book and the film were true.

Furthermore, she explained that the home in France mentioned in the report was "an uninhabitable ruin in a bramble patch, on the boundary of a family member's property".

She added that living there "would be impossible" and that a local agent advised that it was "virtually worthless" and not worth marketing or selling it in 2013.

Meanwhile, in a statement to Deadline, a spokeswoman for the film’s production company – Number 9 Films and Shadowplay Features – said: "There were no known claims against the book at the time of optioning it or producing and distributing the film."

The statement added that the film was "a faithful adaptation of the book that we optioned", and also said: "We undertook all necessary due diligence before acquiring the book."

It concluded: "The allegations made in The Observer relate to the book and are a matter for the author Raynor Winn. "We have passed any correspondence relating to the article to Raynor and her agent."

Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs on The Salt Path true story

Prior to the film’s release – and well before the report in The Observer was published – Anderson and Isaacs spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about playing Raynor and Moth, explaining how it was different to previous times when they’ve played real people.

"It's definitely less stressful, less pressure," Anderson explained. "You want to, obviously, do right by them and to be respectful in your impersonation. But at the same it's not quite as intense as doing somebody who's in front of the public eye as much as say a Thatcher or Emily Maitlis or something."

"Because the public aren't going to go, 'Well, that's not like them,'" agreed Isaacs. "But also, we really like them. Ray and Moth are amazing people, and their story is so inspiring. The books are so successful, and rightfully so, because they contain messages of such hope and belief and compassion.

"And so you not only want them to feel glad that we're doing it, but you want the audience to feel what we felt when we met them, when we read their stories and to be as moved and inspired by their story."

When it came to meeting the real Raynor and Moth, Isaacs explained that he was less interested in copying mannerisms and more so in understanding what it was that made the couple tick.

"I'm never gonna be as tall, handsome, smiley [as Moth], he's just an extraordinary man," he said. "So I just wanted to know, 'What is it inside him?' One of the things I got when I met him is the sign that he wanted everyone else to feel comfortable.

"He makes a joke of everything, even when he was talking to me at great length about this tremendous indignity and terror of his condition and where it will naturally end, he wanted to make me feel at ease. So he made me laugh all the time about it. That's a quality I recognised and could walk away with."

Meanwhile, Anderson explained that listening to Raynor read the audio book version of her memoir was one of the most useful experiences for her when it came to inhabiting the character.

"It felt like I was properly immersed in her rhythm and her personality," she said. "Her accent is quite unusual. Both of their accents are quite unusual. And I found it very challenging.

"So I think at the end of the day, you kind of choose what feels organic and isn't forced, and hope that that's enough of an impression that that they can recognise themselves."

The film takes in some beautiful scenery, and it's clear that nature is a very important aspect of the story, but Isaacs explained that "it's not just nature" that is important.

He said: "It's the nature you find in that particular place, [which] is a huge part of the story for them. But as much as it's gorgeous to watch as an audience and for us as actors to experience, it was challenging and terrifying for them.

"I mean, life was terrifying. Their future was disappearing, but it was cold and they were hungry and they didn't know what was around the corner. And they had to strike the tent every morning before dawn, because people would come along and be very aggressive to them."

Of course, one aspect that made life terrifying was Moth's condition, but the other aspect was the fact that they were homeless – a fact that sometimes led people to behave towards them in something of a hostile manner.

And the stars explained that they hope one of the key takeaways from the film is a shifting attitude towards homelessness.

"I think that's one of the things that Ray and Moth are really keen that people are left with," Anderson said. "Their perception of homelessness and people who are homeless, and to be more compassionate.

"Even stepping into and pretending to experience what they have, you get the impression that you actually have no idea. That anyone who hasn't experienced that probably doesn't really understand the sense of potential hopelessness."

"And invisibility," added Isaacs. "And how open you are to abuse. I mean, the film is very positive, because her book is very positive, right? It was written as a memoir, as a gift to Moth.

"But actually, in their experience talking to them, [and] there's an indication of it early on [in the film]... there's many acts of kindness in the film and those things they remember, but they also experienced the other side of that – from both authorities and individuals – a lot.

"Ray texted yesterday to me that one of the things she hopes people get from the film is they will look twice at people sleeping in doorways and think about them as fellow human beings."

The Salt Path was released in UK cinemas on Friday 30th May.

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