A French guy called Pierre Allain is credited with producing the first smooth soled rock boots back in the 1950s, this led to the collective term PAs for this type of rock climbing boots for decades to come. Unfortunately Allain got another Frenchman, Edward Bourdonneau, to make his boots so some folk called them EBs.

The Italian company, Dolomite, had been making mountain boots since the 1890s and saw a market for this type of boot, we reckon about 1970. The rock boots we have here in the collection would appear to date from the 1970s and, though looking a little tired and battered now, they would have been top quality in their day.

New ideas always took a wee while to make their way north to Scotland, so the Scots’ relied on Baffeez and plimsoles from Woolworths for a year or two…no sense in rushing into these things.