AT the height of the swinging sixties, a group of skinny, fresh-faced suburban kids gathered at a house in North London to play guitars and sing.

Being 1967, a time when all was hip and groovy, there was nothing unusual in that. But this group of mild-mannered, good-looking, young musicians did something that no one else has seriously attempted.

Inspired by traditional rural rhymes, melodies and ballads, they fused punchy pop with English roots music – and invented British folk-rock.

The band of guitarists Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson, bass player Ashley Hutchings, and drummer Shaun Frater called themselves Fairport Convention – taking their name from Simon’s family home in Muswell Hill where they, well.. convened. And what had begun as a playful jam session evolved into one of rock’s most enduring sagas.

And it is quite a story. The nascent band’s first gig, at a church hall in Golders Green, has been followed by a roller-coaster ride of fame, rock ’n’ roll glamour and some tragedy.

The line-up has changed – with an extended family tree of artists coming and going – but the band remain, and are as popular as ever.

Fairport Convention at Cropredy Festival. Picture by Kirstie Handley courtesy of Fairport Convention

The band are now known for their annual festival at Cropredy, near Banbury – which they headline tonight. And thousands of their devoted fans have flocked to the north Oxfordshire hillside for the al fresco summer gathering.

As is traditional (and Cropredy Festival – officially called Fairport’s Cropredy Convention – is nothing if not traditional) the band of Simon Nicol on guitar, Dave Pegg on bass guitar, Ric Sanders on violin, Chris Leslie on fiddle and mandolin, and drummer Dave Mattacks opened the festival on Thursday and bring it to a rousing close tonight.

And, as a treat, guitar virtuoso Richard Thompson may well be joining them – having played his own headline set last night.

“I love my job and love having a reason to play,” founder member Simon said earlier this year.

“We have a genuinely solid base of people who come to gigs and support us at Cropredy,” added the former resident of Chipping Norton who now lives in Kent.

Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention at Cropredy Festival . Picture by Tim Hughes

“Oxfordshire is where we put roots down and we still know lots of people, so it is always special – with lots of friends.”

The group have seen more than their fair share of line-up changes, the first of which came after that first North London gig, when Frater was replaced on the sticks by a member of the audience, Martin Lamble, and singer Judy Dyble was recruited – only to be subsequently replaced by the great Sandy Denny after the release of their eponymous debut album.

Other faces to come and go included singer Iain Matthews and fiddle player – and Cropredy villager –Dave Swarbrick.

Tragedy struck in May 1969 when, after a gig in Birmingham, the band’s van crashed on the motorway, killing Martin as well as Thompson’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn.

Injured and traumatised, the band broke up – Matthews going on to form Matthews Southern Comfort.

But they weren’t out of the game for long, and with the addition of drummer Mattacks and Swarbrick joining as full-time fiddler, they regrouped, retreated to a country house in Hampshire, and released one of the most influential albums ever made – the exhilarating and groundbreaking folk-rock classic Liege & Lief.

Fairport Convention at Cropredy Festival 2023. Picture by Kirstie Handley courtesy of Fairport Convention

The album was a turning point. Inspired by his growing love of traditional folk, Hutchings left, as did Denny –forming the band Fotheringay.

Coming the other way through Fairport’s revolving doors was guitarist Dave Pegg – also a former Cropredy resident.

Thompson also left, Mattacks rejoined – then dropped out, and Denny did the same – dying shortly after of injuries suffered after falling down a flight of stairs.

That time the band finally decided to call it a day –staging a farewell concert at Cropredy in 1971.

That they, and the festival, are still here, says everything about their enduring appeal.

And fans gathered at Cropredy can expect many of their classic favourites, along with a smattering of rarely-played songs and newer tunes.

“Being quite prolific over the past 50 or 50 years, we have built up quite a repertoire,” says Simon.

“But we play the ‘old faithfulls’ which people would complain about if we didn’t do, as well as songs which haven’t had an airing lately – and by lately, I mean 40 years!”

lFairport Convention play Fairport’s Cropredy Convention which continues until tonight. Seefairportconvention.com