They have gone from playing pubs in north London in the ‘60s, to living in a commune in Hertfordshire, then starting up a festival that attracts 20,000 people every year and are now back on the road with music from their latest album Myths and Heroes. So what has kept Fairport Convention going for so many years?

“We haven’t become our own tribute act and we’re continually moving things forward, which is very important,“ says guitarist Simon Nicol, the only founding member still in the band that has seen more than 20 different line-ups.

He is joined in the current line-up by Dave Pegg, Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie and Gerry Conway, and it has been going 18 years, but Simon jokes: “They still feel like the new boys to me.“

The 64-year-old started the band back in early ‘60s with bassist Ashley Hutchings, lead guitarist Richard Thompson and Shaun Frater on drums. They took their name from the medical practice Fairport in Muswell Hill where Simon’s father worked and where they used to practise their music.

“It had this strange arty, media thing about it, even back in the day, says Simon.

“I was going to gigs when I was about 12,“ he continues, “because they were everywhere. And I was like a sponge and things were very relaxed back then. I went to everything from experimental jazz to blues and rock and R’n’B.

“Everyone my age had a guitar. It was a rite of passage to get one and most people went through performing in a band with their school chums.“

Simon says he was ‘collared’ by now long-term collaborator Ashley Hatchings to join a band at North Bank Youth Group in Creighton Avenue with a 12-string guitar he bought from Les Aldridge in Muswell Hill with £35 saved from washing cars.

Admitting he was ‘a good pupil until the music started’, he dropped out of doing his A-Levels at Friern Barnet Grammar when he was 15. “Not because I knew music was what I wanted to do, I was just really happy to be away, which was a shame.“ But he says “luckily“ the band took off and was signed by Joe Boyd.

“We worked hard and we had some very strong things in the arsenal. There was a team spirit, Ashley’s vision and Richard’s guitar playing and we just caught the wave at the right time because 1966, ‘67 there was this amazing reinvention of youth as a driving force.

“We were very much aware of the social change, it was the summer of love and there was a tangible revolution going on.“ Embracing that ethos, the band moved with wives and girlfriends to a pub just outside Bishop’s Stortford to work on their sound.

“It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but we were very young,“ says Simon. “We had this room that used to be the skittle alley and we used to leave the gear set up in there. It was great for songwriting and trying out ideas.“ Their peace was shattered, literally, when a Dutch truck driver fell asleep at the top of the hill and crashed into the building with his articulated lorry.

They then moved into the ‘folk rock belt’, with Simon settling in Abingdon, and the festival that is now Fairport’s Cropredy Convention began to emerge. Simon moved to Chipping Norton in 1979. The band traditionally start the tour just down the road in Tewkesbury.

Simon enjoys a slower pace now. In 1968 the band released three albums as well as being on the road, whereas their latest release, out officially on March 2, took four years to complete.

Songs have been largely written by Chris Leslie, including the title track, with other songs from Ralph McTell, James Wood and PJ Wright. Simon is excited about bringing them out on tour, along with old favourites such as Crazy Man Michael, Meet on the Ledge and Matty Groves.

Neatly closing the circle, the tour will end at Union Chapel in Islington, close to where Simon grew up.

And the secret to Fairport’s enduring popularity?

“Luck and timing have been part of it. If I knew what it was that kept the audiences coming back and could put it in a bottle I would be rich, but it’s a mystery. But I’m very glad it happened.“

Fairport Convention will play a sold out gig at Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington on Sunday, March 1, 7pm. Details: 020 7226 3750, unionchapel.org.uk