Taking the French name for battery ‘Pile’ (peelay) began life in Paris back in 1914 making saline batteries for both the French and English armies during the First World War. Fast forward a few decades to the 1970s and Pile became saviours of many late night mountaineers with their innovative torch which could be a normal, hand held, version or plugged in to become a headtorch, the main torch in effect becoming a battery pack.

The Pile Cahier (exercise book) was another innovative idea with the front cover (image above) becoming an advert for their products, whether they sold them or gave them away we’re not sure. We are not sure either when they started using ‘Wonder’ as a trademark, though it does seem to be a ‘wonderful’ idea!

This particular torch once belonged to Mick Tighe’s mountain guiding company, Nevis Guides.