Cronies

I live in Lyme Regis and I'd like to meet some cronies who are not up themselves. I'm sorry to say that many women of my age in my area seem to be cliquey, smug, terrified of embarking on any activity that does not include their husbands. I'm a fairly blunt northerner whose efforts to engage send them running for the hills. What am I doing wrong? I've joined societies whose members excel at making incomers feel shut out. I am a lively conversationalist who loves a good laugh, maybe a little intense at times when I'm blaming on about Thomas Hardy's poetry. Oh, and I'm one of the only seven members of the Labour Party in Lyme....