The leisure participation of older people has been an enduring research topic in gerontology, with current interest focused on the health and well-being benefits of leisure engagement as part of ‘active ageing’. This attention reflects growing epidemiological evidence on the positive impact of continuing participation in older age in activities such as hobbies, cultural pursuits and volunteerism (Schooler and Mulatu, 2001; Crowe et al, 2003; Verghese et al, 2003; Greaves and Farbus, 2006; Wang et al, 2006; Cohen et al, 2007; Chaves et al, 2009; Doyle et al, 2010; Heo et al, 2010). The role of leisure as a source of identity and creativity is also a related contemporary emphasis in ageing research that explores how leisure is used to maintain, develop or actualise valued aspects of the self (Fisher and Specht, 1999; Kim et al, 2002; Timmer et al, 2003; Reynolds, 2010).

Another nascent area of research, particularly in the field of leisure studies, is the potential of later life leisure participation as a means of creating social capital (McCormick and McGuire, 1996; Glover and Hemingway, 2005; Maynard and Kleiber, 2005; Son et al, 2010). Son et al's (2010) qualitative study of the Red Hat Society®, an international leisure club for women aged 50 and over ‘dedicated to fun and friendship’, exemplifies this theoretical approach to leisure. This research concluded that within the Society, opportunities for creating bonding capital are provided through local chapters in which members organise social activities and celebrations and provide mutual assistance, often offering both instrumental and emotional support to members experiencing difficulties such as health problems or bereavement. Bridging with the larger community is afforded through members’ engagement in volunteering and other civic activities on behalf of the Society. However, although demonstrable social benefits are generated for individual members and for the community through these uses of older women's leisure, the authors suggest the limits of social connectivity engendered by these activities due to the social homogeneity of the Society (ie predominantly white and middle class). In this way, the social capital perspective on leisure provides a means of examining the potential and bounds of connectivity to community produced through these pursuits.

In this chapter, we examine older people's connections to rural community life through their engagement in cultural and leisure activities, including participation in individual pastimes as well as collective pursuits as part of groups and associations.