Raynor Winn on The Salt Path and The Wild Silence


Raynor Winn’s books (The Salt Path and The Wild Silence) tell the incredible story of a walk that changed her life. Just days after learning that her husband, Moth, has been diagnosed with a rare and incurable degenerative disease, the couple lost the farm which had been their home and livelihood for decades.

Homeless and with nowhere they could turn, they made the brave and impulsive decision to walk the entire length of the South West Coastal Path, wild camping and carrying only the essentials for survival. Whilst Moth’s doctors had told him to avoid physical exertion, miraculously the hugely strenuous undertaking of walking the path alleviated the symptoms of his condition, and their walk turned into an extraordinary and life-changing journey.

The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.

The Salt Path and The Wild Silence have now sold over half a million copies, with The Salt Path spending over 80 weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller charts.

‘The landscape is magical, shape-shifting seas and smugglers’ coves; myriad sea birds and mauve skies . . . It’s a tale of triumph: of hope over despair; of love over everything . . . home was no longer about bricks and mortar. It was a state of mind’The Sunday Times

‘The most inspirational book of this year . . . In some ways The Salt Path reads like the ultimate drop-out odyssey, except that this journey isn’t a life choice… What the book chiefly conveys is the human capacity for endurance and the regenerative power of nature…The Salt Path also serves as a reminder that Britain is a land criss-crossed by footpaths and that we take this 140,000-mile national glory for granted at our peril… The Salt Path has reminded me to scrape last year’s mud from my walking boots and get rambling again. I hope it has the same impact on millions of others.’ – Richard Morrison, The Times


Facilitators

Raynor Winn

Colin Midson