Last updated 7 May 2022
[Deweys] [Donald Deweys] [NB for Interest] [Claims] [References]
A ‘Dewey’ is defined as a hill in the British Isles that is at least 500m (1,640.4ft) in height above mean sea level but below 609.6m (2,000ft), and is separated from adjacent hills by a drop of at least 30m (about 100ft) on all sides. This concept was introduced by Michael Dewey in his book Mountain Tables (Constable, 1995). (The upper height was chosen to avoid overlap with other Hill lists starting at 2000 feet).
A SubDewey is a hill in the same height range, but with a drop between 20m and 29.9m. For the purposes of a claim, SubDeweys do not have to be visited. However it might be wise to visit those with drops only just below 30m, in case later surveys promote them !
Michael Dewey’s original list covered England, Wales and the Isle of Man only. Surveys have updated the list over the years and the number currently stands at 426 and claims should be based on that number. You should obtain the list from the DoBIH. Five of the hills are on the Isle of Man.
A completion without the ascent of Great Links Tor on Dartmoor (a genuine rock climb) is acceptable, and you should indicate in the claim form to show whether you did or did not ascend it.
This list has exactly the same definition as the Deweys (above) except that the hills are in the Lowlands of Scotland rather than in England or Wales. The Lowlands are defined as being on or north of the border with England, but south of the Highland Fault. Hills on the Isle of Arran are not required for a claim. The list was originally compiled by David Purchase in 2001 and David chose to use the Dewey name rather than his own, combined with Donald to represent Percy Donald who defined the region in 1935 with his list of Scottish ‘Donalds’ (2000ft hills in Southern Uplands – a story for another day perhaps?).
It included many hills which are Donald SubDeweys, and hence not required for a claim. Later work suggests that there are 247 Donald Deweys.
Five hills are on the border so are Deweys and Donald Deweys. These special hills need only be climbed once for your two lists.
As the Deweys and Donald Deweys are long lists, Progress Reports are published in each Hillwalkers' Register Annual Report. If you would like to update us, just email hillwalker@ldwa.org.uk giving details of the number climbed during the year, and your current total. (Giving both numbers helps the recorder be accurate.)
In Ireland the equivalent hills are called Myrddyn Deweys, and in the Highlands of Scotland they are known as Highland Fives. The Hillwalkers’ Register does not record completion of the Myrddyn Deweys or the Highland Fives, but I understand that Ken Whyte has completed the former list. As the Highland Fives list includes The Old Man of Storr and a couple of other extremely pointy bits on Skye, it is unlikely that any walker has visited all of them.
You can link to the Hillwalkers' Register Claim Form here.
| DoBIH: |
The Database of British and Irish Hills Web-site. This contains the most up-to-date lists of both Deweys and Donald Deweys. |
| Dewey 1995: | Mountain Tables by Michael Dewey (Constable, 1995). This book contains the original list of 373 hills, the “500m Tops of England & Wales” that have become known as the Deweys. This list is no longer regarded as acceptable for a Dewey claim. |
| Dewey 2001: |
As explained above, the original list of 373 hills has been superseded by a list of over 425 hills. For convenience these are referred to as ‘Dewey 2001’. Any completion based on a list dated 2001 or later is acceptable for a Dewey claim. For the most up-to-date list of the Deweys, see DoBIH. |
| Purchase: | The Donald Deweys by David Purchase (2001, with very minor amendments since then). Unpublished, but freely available as an email attachment (email hillwalker@ldwa.org.uk for a copy). As the changes have been so few, any list of Donald Deweys is acceptable for a claim. |
| No. | Name |
Sex | List(s) | Last Summit | Great Links Tor | Rnds | First Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob Woodall | M | Dewey 1995 | Arant Haw | Yes | 1 | 7 Nov 1998 |
| 2 | Bob Garrett | M | Dewey 2001 | Swinklebank Crag | 1 | 23 Jul 2004 | |
| 3 | Graham Illing | M | Dewey 2001 | Wether Cairn | Yes | 1 | 19 Jul 2008 |
| 4 | Andy Sutton | M | Dewey 2001 | Dunmoor Hill | Yes | 1 | 6 Apr 2009 |
| 5 | David Purchase | M | Dewey 2001 | Castle Knott | 1 | 3 Jun 2009 | |
| 6 | Anton Ciritis | M | Dewey 2001 | Graig Goch | 1 | 12 Sep 2009 | |
| 7 | Carole Engel | F | Dewey 2001 | High Snockrigg | 1 | 14 Jun 2010 | |
| 8 | Mick Moore | M | Dewey 2001 | Great Links Tor | Yes | 1 | 4 Aug 2012 |
| 9 | John Kirk | M | Dewey 2001 | Foel Lwyd | Yes | 1 | 20 Oct 2012 |
| 10 | Andy West | M | Dewey 2001 | Monkside | Yes | 1 | 25 Aug 2013 |
| 11 | Michael Earnshaw | M | DoBIH | Ffordd Gefn (Bryn Gwyn) | Yes | 1 | 4 May 2016 |
| 12 | Steven Turnbull | M | DoBIH | Naughtberry Hill | Yes | 1 | 16 Jul 2016 |
| 13 | Graeme Crowe | M | DoBIH | High Dodd | Yes | 1 | 1 Oct 2016 |
| 14 | Gerry Bowes | M | DoBIH | Graig Goch | Yes | 1 | 29 May 2018 |
| 15 | Jeff Parr | M | DoBIH | Foel Uchaf | Yes | 1 | 30 Aug 2020 |
| 16 | Mark Trengove | M | DoBIH | Blorenge | Yes | 1 | 6 Jan 2023 |
| 17 | Alan Duval | M | DoBIH | Stanky Hill | 1 | 27 Mar 2023 | |
| 18 | Kathy Duval | F | DoBIH | Stanky Hill | 1 | 27 Mar 2023 |
| No. | Name |
Sex | List(s) | Last Summit | Rnds | First Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Baxter | M | Purchase | Dob's Craig | 1 | 13 Jul 2003 |
| 2 | Andy Hyams | M | Purchase | Horse Hope Hill | 1 | 23 Feb 2009 |
| 3 | Colin Crawford | M | DoBIH | Mount Maw | 1 | 25 Aug 2013 |
| 4 | Alan Castle | M | Purchase | Callaw Cairn | 1 | 22 Aug 2015 |
| 5 | Chris Bienkowski | M | DoBIH | Birkside Law | 1 | 29 Nov 2015 |
| 6 | Rob Woodall | M | DoBIH | Birkside Law | 1 | 29 Nov 2015 |
| 7 | Michael Earnshaw | M | DoBIH | Newby Kipps | 1 | 6 Jun 2016 |
| 8 | Bernie Hughes | M | DoBIH | Little Millyea | 1 | 11 Jun 2016 |
| 9 | Bob Garrett | M | Purchase | Little Millyea | 1 | 10 Oct 2016 |
| 10 | Carole Engel | F | DoBIH | West Lomond | 1 | 7 Oct 2017 |
| 11 | Gerry Bowes | M | DoBIH | Fastheugh Hill | 1 | 2 Oct 2020 |
| 12 | Stephen Stobie | M | DoBIH | Hoodens Hill | 1 | 14 Jun 2023 |
