Early pioneer rock climbers used a variety of footwear and there are tales of rope soled sandals called espadrilles, felt bottomed shoes and for many years Woolworth’s tennis shoes, or plimsoles being very popular in the UK. The first smooth soled boots were manufactured by the French, master boot-maker, Edourd Bourdonneau, in 1947, but as the idea came initially from another Frenchman, Pierre Allain, the boots became known collectively as P.A.’s . Bordonneau split with Allain in the fifties and marketed similar boots though this time using his own initials, EB. By coincidence, the Manchester boot maker, Ellis Brigham, was on the scene at the same time and sold EB’s in his shops, leading many folk to think that they were made by him. EB’s were almost universal in the 60’s and 70’s but other brands began to appear in the 1980’s such as the Spanish ‘Fire’ rendering these boots obsolete. ‘Gratton’ is a french slang term for a tiny edge on a rock face, hence the appellation ‘Super Gratton’