The 2019 Rye Arts Festival finally came to an end on Sunday November 3 with a talk by writer Raynor Winn.
The talk was originally scheduled for September but Raynor broke her toe and couldn’t travel, which is ironic because her book, The Salt Path, catalogues her 630 mile walk along the South West Coast Path.
The Salt Path is a memoir of that journey – and the events that proceeded it. Raynor and her husband Moth had lost their farmhouse and their source of income renting to holidaymakers. Their homelessness also coincided with Moth’s diagnosis with a rare degenerative disease.
The idea of walking the coastal path came to Raynor when she spotted a book she had read in her 20s in one of their packing cases. Five Hundred Mile Walkies was written by a man who had done the South West Coast Path with his dog.
Raynor originally wrote the book for Moth for when his memory would began to fade, a symptom of his illness. She used the original guide book, which over the two summers of walking Moth had annotated with their daily trials and tribulations, but it is clear that her passion for the natural world runs much deeper.
The Salt Path has gone on to become a best seller and Raynor confirmed on Sunday that she was in the middle of writing a second book, due for release in early 2020.
The talk took place at a packed Methodist Church with the question and answer session led by Andy Bantock. The audience were clearly charmed by Raynor. Many remained after the talk and an enthusiastic queue formed to buy a signed copy of the book.
Image Credits: Kevin McCarthy .