Abstract The magnificent new and commodious building of the British Museum (Natural History) in Cromwell Road, South Kensington, (referred to here by its current name: Natural History Museum (NHM)) opened to the public in April 1881 with a staff of five in the Geology Department, including the Keeper, Dr Henry Woodward (1832–1921). Following the transfer of Robert Etheridge Junior (1846–1920) and the retirement of William Davies (1813–1891), there was a competition in 1887, involving an examination, for the two vacant Assistantships. This competition resulted in the appointments of Francis Arthur Bather (1863–1934), a First Class Honours graduate in natural sciences from Oxford, and J. W. Gregory ( Lang 1934 ), despite the fact that the latter had not yet graduated or even taken his intermediate BSc examination, and needed to continue his part-time studies for several years to graduate. Clearly Gregory's performance, reputation, enthusiasm and promise gained him the post, and with Bather, he joined the three existing assistants, Richard Bullen Newton (1867–1949), George Charles Crick (1856–1917) and Arthur Smith Woodward ( Lang 1934 ). He accepted the post of 2nd Class Assistant on 16 August 1887 and started work on 12 September 1887 with a salary of £130 per year (NHM archives). It was a stunning coup to have obtained such a post in competition with Oxbridge graduates and the family were rightly proud of his success. Even 60 years later, his sister Eleanor recounted this achievement with pride (A. Mendell, pers. comm. 2008). Grenville Cole wrote to Gregory on 9 August 1887 ‘

Abstract Grenville Arthur James Cole (1859–1924), Professor of Geology at the Royal College of Science for Ireland, was an avid cyclist and shared this passion with his wife Blanche. Born in London, Cole studied at the Royal School of Mines and lectured for a number of years at Bedford College for Ladies. Largely concurrent with his professorship he served as Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland at a time when it was in moderate decline. He undertook many cycling tours around continental Europe and Ireland. These trips were recounted in two early travel books. The Gypsy Road: a Journey from Krakow to Coblentz , published in 1894, provides a delightful account of a tour undertaken by him on a tricycle and his companion on a penny farthing, across what is now Poland, the Czech Republic, and eastern Germany. In a later slim volume entitled As We Ride , co-authored with his wife, a number of expeditions to France and the Balkans are eloquently described. Between 1902 and 1908 he organized a week-long geological excursion to various parts of Ireland for his students, and transport was by train and bicycle. His cycling trips provided him with the opportunity to collect research materials, make geological observations, and to photograph features of interest. Subsequently much of this material was used in his publications and in teaching. Cole's main academic studies were in igneous and metamorphic petrology. He valued and promoted fieldwork as an essential component of geological training. He was heavily involved with professional and amateur scientific societies, and was a prolific author of both academic and popular geological papers and books.