Saltlines: The Stories behind the music

Exploring human stories and the musical history of the South West Coast Path, Saltlines is a vibrant collaboration between music and prose. 

About Saltlines

Saltlines is a musical and poetic odyssey created by folk supergroup The Gigspanner Big Band and author Raynor Winn. Through rejuvinated folk music and original prose, it reaches into the rich and visceral history of the South West Coast to celebrate the area’s beauty and enduring traditions.

After Raynor Winn’s memoir The Salt Path emerged, the band approached her with an idea for a collaboration:

Raynor’s memoir recounted her journey along the South West Coast Path with her husband, Moth. The team felt that there were still more stories to be told from this historic and evocative part of the world. The well-trodden trail inevitably held other tales of loss, love and the natural world. The legendary music collector Cecil Sharp had travelled this path, gathering traditional songs of the South West. He captured songs that would have otherwise died out due to the fading of oral traditions in a post-industrial Britain. 

Compositions in Saltlines are created from a mix of these traditional tunes and brand-new songs performed alongside soundscapes, spoken word prose, and poetry. The combination of storytelling and music lightly touches on social and environmental issues that face not only coastal communities but the world at large. It is a modern piece, thoughtfully and creatively delivered.

The Gigspanner Big Band

Formed by legendary Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight, Gigspanner Big Band appeals to folk traditionalists and those with more experimental tastes alike. It features some of the most celebrated names on the British folk scene. The band began life as a trio, with Knight alongside percussionist Sacha Trochet and guitarist Roger Flack. They were then joined by multi-instrumental duo Edgelarks, Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin, as well as Bellowhead co-founder and melodeon extraordinaire, John Spiers. From then, they became the Gigspanner Big Band.

The group perform original music that is embedded in traditional folk sounds from around the British Isles. They are a celebrated and renowned band that manages to balance new, energised sounds whilst maintaining beloved, well-known tunes.

Before Saltlines: Raynor Winn and The Salt Path

In 2013 life was suddenly upended for Raynor and Moth Winn when they found themselves in a position they never imagined. Their family home and everything they owned was gone, thanks to a bad business deal, and there was tragic uncertainty surrounding Moth’s health. He had been diagnosed with a rare degenerative brain disease and given a prognosis of just a few years left to live.

These events led them on an epic, sometimes fraught, journey. Raynor decided they would walk the 630-mile route of the South West Coast Path, with some scant possessions, a tent and two thin sleeping bags. The ruggedly beautiful South West coast became their new home. Over two summers the couple made the trek from Minehead in Somerset around the Devonshire and Cornish coast, to Poole in Dorset.

Perceptions of Homelessness

The journey was not without difficulties. Their lack of resources placed the couple in a precarious position. Raynor soon discovered that in rural areas homelessness is more obscured and hidden but still very real. And the lack of visibility for homeless people in rural areas means the prejudice is brutal. They found that when people discovered they were homeless the couple were immediately perceived differently. When talking to the Guardian, Raynor said:

She recounted tales of being physically and verbally harassed by members of the public. These strangers had made negative assumptions about them based on their appearance and their status as homeless people. It was something that diminished their sense of self and damaged their morale. However, the couple devised ways to deal with these negative interactions and get through the pain together. Soon, Raynor realised that what kept her going was the fact that they were together.

Finding Home

Raynor has discussed how some situations they were in could have been gloomy and depressing – such as reaching Land’s End in awful weather. But the freedom of their journey, their newfound connection to nature, and their strength as a team were incredibly liberating. She felt like she had become part of something much larger and more important than having a roof over her head:

Where Raynor had previously thought of ‘home’ in the traditional sense, she now thought entirely differently. ‘Home’ wasn’t a space enclosed by walls; they had found their home in each other, in each other’s company, strength and love. As long as she was with Moth, she knew she was home. 

The Salt Path

After their journey ended, Raynor wrote an article about their walk for The Big Issue, then wrote a memoir. It was to serve as a reminder to herself, and to Moth as his memory fades, of their inspirational journey together. Eventually, the memoir was published and became a best-selling, award-winning book. Their story has now been turned into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, which is due to be released later this year. It was thanks to Raynor’s poetic and epic account of their journey that she was put on the Gigspanner Big Band’s radar. From there, Saltlines has emerged and continues to take audiences by storm.

Saltlines was on at the Pavilion Theatre in May 2024.