I think it may be area of outstanding natural beauty, although I dont know, not trying to seem contrary or anything.
That sounds like a wonderful part of the country you are in, I always mean to research more those parts of northern ireland that are classed that way or even the entirety of the island of Ireland, since its not realistically that big a place (that said I've lived almost forty years here and have not visited all of the 32 counties of Ireland).
I went out once with a walking/rambling club that operates locally, they were a great bunch of people and very welcoming, one of the guys talked to me about how he had an interest in flower and fauna and said that you needed to have an interest like this as he thought that simply walking would not be enough to motivate people to join the the treks, while another had been consciously and deliberately working his way through his second and third of Tolstoy's books, deciding to become more "cultured", which was really interesting too.
The thing was that this group did their planned walk, I joined, it was fun but if I'm honest mildly taxing to someone who at the time was a stone or two heavier and tends to over estimate his fitness, then they had an annual dinner afterwards which I joined really as I'd car shared with them to that point and needed the lift back to my car again. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed meeting new people, as I do for the most part. Although I never went back. For some reason I feel embarrassed at the prospect now.
Are there many involved in your mum and dad's club? Do you ever do longer solo hikes? I've thought about that but I also am pretty aware of the risks accompanying it, I've read some awful stories about people locally being the victim of crimes at camp sites, which isnt even the kind of vulnerability presented by being along on a mountain side or isolated spot and encountering some clever lunatic.
Sounds like you've had some good experiences. I know what you mean about meeting new people, I went through a period with my wargaming where I didn't have a consistent club and I seemed to be going to different ones and then never going back. It was a similar experience to what you described & now I think I would also be a bit embarrassed at the idea, although I now play at a club where I am well established and get on really well with the members.
With my mum and dad's club there are quite a few members, at least 35+ with the oldest ones being upwards of 85 in age, although a lot of them only do half the distances of the bigger walks nowadays, which is understandable.
As for solo hikes...well I think some of the more adventurous members do stuff like that. I've done a few smallish walks in Wales and around here, but none could be considered massive hikes, nor were there any real risks involved. I have wanted to walk up (or rather scramble up) Crib Goch in North Wales, as I've been up a few times with others, but never by myself.
However it can be a bit intimidating:
The last time I went up with some of the others, there was a large family-style group about half way through the scramble, dressed only in t-shirts and trainers while it was starting to rain. And the issue was they couldn't get the children to move from their spot because they were terrified. So we had to climb past, get down quickly & then notify the Llamberis pass rescue team. I hope they were alright in the end.
As for people with ill-intent, well we've been lucky so far, but it is a risk & certainly a worry at the back of your mind. I've had a few sketchy run ins with farmers....& their dogs, when I've gone the wrong way.
