To enjoy doing these things alone?

I think they probably feel you are going to grow away from them. This is a fairly common feeling in all types of relationships , the sense that you are doing something to better yourself and somehow that is going to change you as a person so that you no longer feel the same towards your loved ones/ friends.
Also a single confident woman is an attractive proposition or a threat depending on who you are. That's another reason to get you back in the dating game before their partners start noticing you.

I think if you value the friendship and want to give it one last try to resolve, you need to sit them down and have a serious, direct conversation about how they are making you feel, and that if they can't be supportive of you seeking happiness in your own way, they aren't really friends at all!

Yes, unless you’re going to go for a drink or dinner before or after, cinema and theatre are a complete waste of good company, as they involve sitting silently in the dark watching something. Having someone you know alongside doesn’t add anything to the experience.

If i had the choice between going for dinner with friends or going to the theatre with friends, I would choose the dinner without thinking twice. That way I get to do something that would be far less fun solo. Theatre is just as good by yourself.

Sounds great to me, you enjoy yourself

100% I have had so many comments from family as pre child I would go to the theatre alone - not all the time but semi-regularly.

I wanted to go and see more shows than my partner or friends did and I didn't want to miss them. Once you sit down and the lights are down you don't talk to who you're with!

They can't imagine doing anything alone so thought I was so weird. Yet if I stayed home and did nothing there wouldn't be an issue

I have walked the entire coast to coast walk, across high fells and lonely moors, peat bogs and waist high floods, in rain and sleet and fog, eating in tiny pubs and sheltering in tiny churches entirely and blissfully alone. As well as the West Highland Way, the Cleveland Way, Offa’s Dyke (but a friend joined me there halfway) and the Dalesway.

When did my danger instincts kick in most often on these adventures? A couple of times I’ve been worried about being lost in fog on the tops when visibility is poor, one time I hurt my ankle. But more often in the evenings when encountering men in the only pub for miles!

I honestly think other woman are often womens worst enemy.

A couple of people have mentioned emergency beacons and it is worth considering. Ones like the garmin reach have a monthly subscription and let you communicate via text with others but also have an SOS button. Or personal locator beacons, which is what I have. This is just an SOS button which when pushed will result in local rescue services being notified. These are especially useful if you walk in areas where there isn't many other people. Mobile phone coverage is limited in many walking areas and these work via satellite.

Well I walked a long distance trail alone after my divorce... best thing I've ever done. But no one who doesn't do similar understood it.
Find other women who do understand and share your excitement and achievements with them is my only advice. Don't stop walking if it brings you joy!!

I'm going to assume that you are as capable and intelligent as you appear and have applied that by researching safety while on the fells. You clearly are more competent than your very unreasonable relatives suggest.

May I recommend High Spy to Catbells for a fair winter day? It's a beautiful ridge walk but can be a bit overpopulated in the summer. Walla Crag is similarly one of my winter walks as there's less people about.

Of course, by the time things are physical, it is probably too late, but self defense for single women also teaches situational awareness and self confidence in dealing with potentially difficult situations.

Speaking as a fellow single woman, the latter is a good skill to have, particularly for fending off well meaning, smug marrieds!

These courses can also be a good way of meeting like minded women and it does seem like the OP could do with some of those in her circle.

People are projecting their fears and issues on to you. Just live your life and enjoy it and if people share their crap with you about things you love, don't tell them about it. Well done on taking hold of your life and living it the way you want. Enjoy your longer hair and your lovely walks, it all sounds fabulous to me. Let them live small, you don't have to do the same. x

Logically, going on a Survival Skills course would be more useful for going hill walking than Martial Arts.

The most likely thing to happen is straining her ankle.

That is true, given that the natural state of a proper lady is to be decorative rather than functional.

Sure, but unless the OP wants to learn Krav Maga or something (and you’re right, she might well enjoy it), she should feel free to just tell the tutters that she’s a Third Dan Black Belt in whatever.

Or just laugh at them and point out that an assailant waiting behind a cairn on a winter fell for a possible victim to pass may have a long wait, and may well be more likely to have died of exposure and boredom than to have found someone to attack.

Yes, but also that they’re pushed into being ‘not quite ladylike’ by the tragic absence of A Man. If there were A Man, the woman in question could revert to the natural state of things and be helped over a stile in a nice frock and a parasol, rather than striding up a fell in outdoor gear and a rucksack.

It's more about cutting off the comments from the sibling than needing to karate chop an assailant.

Plus @RamblingAlone seems to be enjoying learning new things, so it's a win/win in my book.

Some people do think that women doing things on their own for themselves are not quite ladylike.

My DMIL could be a bit like that. In her world view women were subordinate to men in all things out of the home.

She was a bit shocked that I was perfectly happy driving on my own!

The chances of the OP needing to karate chop an assailant on a fell are slim to none. She’s far more likely to twist an ankle, but as she already takes sensible precautions from what she says, it’s pretty clear her family know nothing about fell walking and are just trying to shut down her life, or just have a completely disproportionate sense of the risks of solo walking. There have been threads on here about walking where some posters thought I was putting myself at risk by walking, alone and dogless, on field paths in gentle, rolling midlands countryside.

Ignore them! Have you thought about joining a hiking / walking group? I am in a ladies walking group and it’s brilliant, I love my Saturday’s of long walks in the Surrey countryside and pub lunches, roaring fires this time of year.

But there’s nothing wrong with doing it on your own. I have been single for 14yrs (odd short term fling) and I am perfectly happy. People don’t understand it as society seems to think there’s something wrong with you it you aren’t actively seeking, or in, a relationship. My kids have grown up, 16yr old still at home but others have moved out now and they have been my priority for many years. I have a full and happy life, so I ignore comments. I do.

It sounds as if what you are doing is exposing their own inadequacies. You are casting a light into their dark places and it is uncomfortable for them so they are lashing out.

On the safety side of things, can you do some self defence training to head that argument off? My sibling lives in the Alps and has a gps beacon in case of emergency - is that type of thing available here?

I walk alone a lot because I haven't got anyone to walk with. Less in the winter because I work and it's dark by the time I'm finished. It's lovely. I see a lot of women walking alone. I think if you are sensible it's safe. I think your sister and your friend are not used to the "new" you. They want,even subconsciously, for you to be the same as you have always been. I would ignore them and carry on being you.edited to say I'm 60 and with all the children grown up it's amazing to be finally free to be me.

Some people like to feel like their life is better than yours. If you are being all happy and confident you are spoiling the illusion!

When I was single my life was a bit chaotic (dating disasters and dramas) my Friends (in hindsight) loved it. I was never more popular. As soon as I met someone and settled down a bit they disappeared. My sister love's swooping in when I'm struggling but can be quite shitty with me when things are good. I think some people compare lives and can't cope with theirs lacking. (In their opinion)

Enjoy yourself and maybe find some friends with shared interest.

I would take safety advice from people who know the area, ensure I have all the required kit (phone fully charged, map, emergency blanket) and tell somewhere exactly what route and when I planned to be back.

But no, you don't need a "man".

Resentment and jealousy because you are in fact enjoying a rebirth, a renaissance.

I recognise it as it’s happening to me as well (nearly 50) I am still married, but experiencing a reconnection with my inner self. The adventurer part of my character that I had lost touch with. I also want to do these things alone, I want to hear my own thoughts, my own feelings and chatterings. Good mental health is truly liberating and wonderful!

It’s an absolute gift and please do not let anyone take it away from you. A few of my friends have looked dubious and pissed off, but actually I am really stepping into my life and I just don’t care what they think!!

Expand your social connections to include people that are free spirits like you, they will enjoy your achievements and celebrate with you.. I find women’s circles are great for finding that kind of person.

Stop telling the two miseries anything. Just say you are well and happy and move the subject on. They will eventually adjust. Some people prefer us to be depressed, it makes them feel better about their own lives, but you can embrace your new chapter and enjoy it op! You need better friends now to match 💚

What is wrong with these women?! You aren't exactly 95 years old and likely to fall over and break a hip. You are no age at all and should be out and about getting exercise, fresh air and having fun. Being a women is no reason at all not to hike alone. I'm certain the safety risk would be far greater for a lone women to walk through a town centre than hike alone in the countryside! Ignore there comments or ask them to stop. Are they both old before their time? Are they jealous of you living your best life? Are you spending less time with them now than you did before?