So Many Ways to Begin. Jon McGregor
Part Two
17 Pair of cinema tickets, annotated ‘19th May 1967’
18 Disciplinary letter, typewritten on headed paper, January 1968
19 Identity badge, Junior Curatorial Assistant, Coventry Museum, W/Photo, 1967
20 Examination results, Scottish Highers, July 1967
21 Train ticket, Aberdeen–Coventry (Single), 15 September 1968
22 Book of Co-op dividend stamps, 1968
23 Handwritten list of coventry addresses, August 1968
24 Doorkey on a knotted loop of string; Wedding certificate, October 1968
25 Lacework placemats (wedding gift), 1968
26 Geologist’s rock-hammer, in original case (wedding gift, unused), c.1969
27 Model fishing boat, handmade c.1905
28 Page torn from Aberdeen Press & Journal, crumpled, August 1968
29 Set of clothes pegs, traditional style, w/hand-drawn faces, c.1920s–1950s
30 Girl’s hairbrush, wooden-handled, c.1940s
31 Nurse’s fob watch, engraved RCN, 1941
32 University prospectuses; 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
33 Pill bottles, prescriptions; dated variously 1973–1987
34 Small vase, handmade by unknown Warwickshire potter, 1974
35 Tobacco tin; used for storing buttons, beads, safety pins, c.1960s
36 Catalogue from museum exhibition, ‘Refugees, Migrants, New Arrivals’, 1975
37 Framed photograph (w/broken glass), David and Eleanor, c.1975
38 Wine cork, dated (handwriting) August 1975
39 Hospital admissions card, 1945 (Discovered 1976)
40 Scrapbook w/postcards, tickets, maps, etc., 1979
41 Cut fragments of surgical thread, in small transparent case, dated July 1983
42 Pocket address book, w/page torn out, c.1982
43 Small fragment of metal, unidentified, 1983
44 Pair of child’s gloves, striped, c.1983
45 Job application form, Head Curator, c.1984
46 Hand-drawn family tree (incomplete), dated May 1984
47 Envelopes w/Aberdeen postmarks, occasional 1984–2000
48 Photographs of Kate at eight years old, with birthday cards, 1984
49 Library tickets, green card with handwritten annotations, c.1980s
50 DHSS Booklet, Guide to Services for the Newly Unemployed, 1986
51 Video cassette: World’s Greatest Boxing Heroes, c.1987
52 Hand-drawn family tree, marked ‘Believed Complete’, dated 1988
53 Home videos featuring Kate Carter, 1991–1994
54 Examination results; University prospectus, 1994
55 Illustrated Book of Knots, 7th Edition, c.1947
56 Ration books, Union cards, Co-op dividend stamps, 1930s and 1940s
57 Printed service sheet, ‘Ivy Elaine Campbell, 1910–2000’, 23 April 2000
58 Email messages; printed copies dated March 2000
59 Ferry tickets; handwritten letter; route map (from website); all June 2000
60 Biscuit tin, rusted, used as money box or for keepsakes, c.1944
61 Paper package of selected photographs (reprints), c.1950–2000
62 Bill for room and board, Conway’s of Letterkenny, June 2000
Read an exclusive extract from Jon McGregor’s new novel, Reservoir 13
By the Same Author
About the Publisher
They came in the morning, early, walking with the others along tracks and lanes and roads, across fields, down the long low hills which led to the slow pull of the river, down to the open gateways in the city walls, the hours and days of walking showing in the slow shift of their bodies, their breath steaming above them in the cold morning air as the night fell away at their backs. They came quietly, the swish of dew-wet grasses brushing against their ankles, the pat and splash of the muddy ground beneath their feet, the coughs and murmurs of rising conversation as the same fewphrases were passed back along the lines.