A virgin’s guide to Cropredy

This guide was written by Mark McCulloch for the FC List email group – our thanks to Mark and Jon Hall for permission to reproduce it here. Please also read the FAQs on this website as an adjunct to Mark’s guide.

Cropredy is a pretty village five miles north of Banbury in Oxfordshire (see the location map on this website). Every August, its inhabitants welcome an invasion of up to 20,000 music-lovers for Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. The event is held over the second full weekend of August, from Thursday afternoon to midnight on Saturday.

Organised by Fairport ConventionLtd (Fairport’s Dave Pegg, Simon Nicol with Festival Director Gareth Williams), this outdoor extravaganza has been held annually since the 1970s so the audience includes children (and even grandchildren) of festival-goers who’ve been coming back year after year. There is also a strong contingent of younger newcomers each year. This gives the event a uniquely ‘family-friendly’ atmosphere and a real sense of tradition.

What’s more, first-timers – ‘Cropredy virgins’ – are given an especially warm welcome.

Have a look at the Festival Maps page on this website.

By rail: Banbury has a mainline railway station. It is served by half-hourly Chiltern Line trains from London Marylebone station and Birmingham Snow Hill station. It is also served by Virgin Trains crosscountry services from many parts of the UK.

You can find out train times by telephone from 08457 484950 or by visiting the rail enquiries website. You can also enquire at your local railway station. If you are coming from abroad, you should be aware that British train services can be unreliable so it’s always advisable to catch an earlier train than you think you need.

When you arrive at Banbury railway station, ask a staffmember where to catch the bus to Cropredy. During the festival, buses to Cropredy are frequent.

By road: If you are coming by car, the best route is to travel to Banbury on the M40 motorway. You need to leave the motorway at junction 11 which is signposted for Banbury (see the maps on this website). The routes from J11 are clearly signed by temporary AA (black on yellow) road signs.

Note: If you are not camping but staying in offsite accomodation, or if you’re coming for the day on Saturday only, there is a free car park on the north side of the Williamscot Road and another on School Lane (see the site map on this website).

As you approach the site, festival stewards will guide you towards the entrance. If you’ve already bought your ticket, make sure you have your camping sticker displayed on the windscreen (being careful not to obscure your view). Otherwise, you should head straight for the ticket sellers in the Williamscot Rd Car Park or Field 7c.

Once you get onto the festival site, you will be handed two plastic sacks to collect your camping rubbish (clear for recycled and black for general waste) – on the last day, knot it and discard it in one of the many blue rubbish skips. Keep the place tidy!

You will need to exchange your ticket for a wristband. The wristband is your three-day passport to the festival so make sure it stays on!

As you drive on to the site, friendly marshalls will indicate where to go. If you are in a motorhome, or towing a caravan, head straight for Fields 7c & 7d, although smaller camper vans may be allowed on the tented fields (see the site map on this website).

Some groups like to camp together ,however, spaces cannot be reserved on the campsites so groups should organise a convoy away from the festival. That way, the group members arrive together and will be directed to the same area.

If you’re driving, you may need to stock up with food and drink on your way. The nearest big supermarket to the site is Tesco, Lockheed Close, Banbury. The store is beside the A423 main road about a mile from Junction 11 on the M40 motorway and the phone number is 01295 457400. The shop and petrol station are open 24hours a day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and from 10am til 4pm on Sunday.

This branch of Tesco is also the nearest petrol station to the festival.

There is a Sainsbury’s supermarket south of Banbury on the Oxford Road and Morrison and Co-op supermarkets in the town centre.

All the fields are numbered (see the site map on this website). Field 9 is the ‘concert field’, the ‘arena field’, the ‘main field’, call it what you will. The field slopes and the stage is at the bottom. The first aid ‘field hospital’ is at the top. Along each side are food and merchandise stalls.

Cropredy’s world-renowned bar is midway down the left hand side of the field (looking at the stage). The bar serves real ales in the open air – no gassy tasteless stuff here. There’s also a selection of ciders, lager, soft drinks, wine & spirits.

Here’s another great thing about Cropredy. There is no backstage bar so the artists all have to use the same bar as you. So if you think you’re rubbing shoulders with a famous musician, you probably are.

On the left of the field you’ll also find the CD sales tent. If you like the band that is playing on the stage, you’ll find their latest album here. If you want your CD signed, go to the adjacent signing tent after the band has finished playing because the bands usually go straight to there to sign after they come off stage. There will be a Signing Schedule in the Programme and displayed from time to time on the two giant screens.

At the bottom of this side of the field you will find the tent selling Fairport merchandise including the commemorative T-shirt for the festival. These T-shirts are specific to each year – buy one early because they often sell out and in ten years’ time you’ll regret not having a complete collection. You can also buy a festival programme here, if you didn’t buy one at the wristband exchanges. The programme is essential and it is thoughtfully produced pocket-size.

While you’re on this side of the field, look out for Leon’s vegetarian food stall, a very popular Cropredy fixture.

By now, you know where you can get a drink, you’ve seen half a dozen things you’d like to eat or wear, so it’s time to enjoy the music. The first band takes the stage at about 4pm on Thursday, and at about 12 noon on the Friday and Saturday. Details will be in the programme you’ve just bought (and are usually also published on the Fairport website before the event).

Your first thought should be for others. If you want to stand, go to the area at the bottom of the field in front of the stage. If you have a chair, pick a spot behind the white semi-circle line where you won’t be obstructing people’s view or blocking access ways. Chairs are forbidden in front of this line.

You can bring a waterproof sheet or a picnic blanket if you want to sit on the grass: however, a lot of festival-goers prefer to bring a folding chair. If you do, please consider the people behind you – a large or tall affair will block their view. The audience lower down the field prefers to stand up so if you bring a chair it’s best to set up about half way up the field.

By tradition, the area at the bottom of the field directly in front of the stage is considered standing only – in fact, ‘dancing only’ would be more accurate.

When the music ends for the night and it’s time to go back to your tent, you can leave the field from the top or the bottom. The exits are clearly marked by illuminated signs. Once you’re back at your tent with a beer or a coffee, the spirit of Cropredy continues. Chat to your neighbours, or take a wander round the campsite. You can usually find a sing-song to join in – if a group of people are singing and playing they’ll be pleased to welcome you as a rule.

Some folks make breakfast themselves, others prefer to find it elsewhere. If you can’t be bothered to fry-up yourself, wander off to the village where breakfast can be bought at several places, all advertised by signs.

There are two pubs in Cropredy and both have served breakfasts in past years. Other places serving breakfasts include the village hall, the place beside the canal bridge, and the village’s primary school (particularly convenient if you’re camping on Fields 7a-d or 8). There are also food stalls on some of the campsites which serve breakfasts.

After breakfast, you might decide to take a stroll around the village. Let’s start with the bridge over the river. During the English Civil War, a major battle took place here in 1644. The events are commemorated in Ralph McTell’s song Red And Gold, recorded by Fairport. Several traders set up stalls by the bridge during the festival weekend.

Just over the bridge, you’ll find the village shop, probably with a queue outside. It sells groceries, cigarettes, newspapers and lots of things you probably forgot to pack. If you find your preferred newspaper has sold out, you really should have got up earlier!

Further into the village, take a look into the church. There are some frescos on one wall, but the real item of interest is the brass eagle lectern. As the Battle of Cropredy Bridge loomed, the villagers took care to preserve the most ‘stealable’ item in their church: if the Parliamentary forces won the battle, there was every chance that the lectern would be melted down to become part of a cannon. The villagers decided to hide it in the river from where it could be recovered easily. But when they went to retrieve the lectern it wasn’t there. Over one hundred years later, it was discovered some distance down the river.

Cropredy church hosts a non-denominational service on the Sunday of the Festival, so if you’d like to thank God for the good time you’ve had, head there. Don’t forget your guitar, squeezebox, or whatever instrument you’ve brought, it will be welcomed.

There are two pubs in Cropredy, The Red Lion and The Brasenose Arms. Both are supporters of the festival and both serve good beer.

The Brasenose Arms and The Red Lion both host outdoor live music during the festival; so if the music on the festival stage is not to your taste, the two pubs provide alternatives.

The Brasenose Arms is at the road junction beyond the canal bridge – if you walk from the festival site past the village shop and cross the canal, you can hardly miss it. The Red Lion is across the street from the church – from the festival site, cross the canal bridge, take the first right then turn left at the end of the street.

While you are by the canal, you may fancy a stroll along the towpath. If you head north (turning right at the canal bridge) you will come to Cropredy lock, a very picturesque spot. Cross the bridge here and the Red Lion is just up the street. Or head south (turning left at the bridge) for a circular walk back to the festival site – at the the next bridge, a footpath on your left takes you back to the festival.

There is more information about the village, the canal, and the pubs on the Cropredy village website.

The toilets at Cropredy are plentiful and the ratio of ‘ladies’ to ‘gents’ is, unusually, biased in favour of women. Most people say that these are the cleanest toilets you’ll find at any music festival. The loo paper is replenished frequently but if you find a toilet with no paper, check the one next door then tell a steward when you leave. Of course, you may well choose to bring your own paper.

As well as the toilets, you’ll find  shower units on Fields 2 and 7b (disabled showers at the top of Field 6). However, there are often long queues in the morning. There are also showers at the Sports Pavilion near the main site entrance. An alternative is to catch the bus into Banbury and use the showers in the town’s Sports Centre (a few minutes walk from the bus station). That way, you can go for a swim too.

No problem! There are lots of stalls, both on the arena field and on the campsites, selling a very wide variety of food and it is mostly reasonably priced by the standards of other British music festivals.

Both vegetarians and meat-eaters are catered for as are those who require gluten free. In a typical year, you’ll find curries (Goan Seafood Curries are a favourite!), pizzas, baked potatoes with a variety of fillings, pancakes, Eastern food, steak sandwiches, chips, kebabs, doughnuts… and, of course, Leon’s legendary vegetarian food stall.

The main first aid post is at the top of the arena field. If anyone needs medical assistance, help is available 24 hours a day. People look out for one another at Cropredy. So if you see someone who is obviously unwell or injured, find a steward who will radio for a first aid team. There is another first aid post at the entrance to Field 7a.

Cropredy prides itself on being family-friendly and children are very welcome indeed. However, family parties should pre-arrange a meeting place in case anyone gets lost. If small children get separated from their parents or carers, security staff will take charge of them and they can be reunited with their parents at the festival control point at the top of the Arena field.

There’s usually lots for kids to do throughout the three days and on the Friday and Saturday afternoons there’s formal entertainment for the children in and around the kids tent at the top of the arena field. In the past, this has included learning circus skills, improvising and performing a play, chasing around after huge inflatable objects, and goodness knows what else.

It’s over. Pack up the tent, clean up your pitch, load the car, and chuck your rubbish sack in the skip. Then you can head over to the Sports Pavilion: by lunchtime, a barbecue will be in full blast.

Depending on the weather, various members of Fairport Convention and their musical guests will turn up after lunch for the annual Fairport versus Cropredy village cricket match. The bar will be open, so grab a pint, find somewhere to sit, and cheer, gasp and giggle at the antics on the pitch.

Cropredy is different to any other festival. It has its own special atmosphere, its own traditions, its unique hospitality. Everyone – the musicians, the organisers, the villagers, the police and stewards – wants you to have a good time. They don’t want you to get hurt, sick or ripped off.

When you are part of that crowd late on Saturday night singing Meet on the Ledge with everyone else, knowing that if you really mean it, it all comes round again… it’s magic. When you stroll down a leafy lane in the sunshine, with the thought of a pint at the end of it, and it’s soooo quiet… it’s magic. When you are sat in the cool dark evening with good friends, singing songs… it’s magic. When you walk through the campsite and realise that everyone around likes you just because you’re here… it’s magic. Cropredy will seep into your soul. You’ll want to come back for another taste of that communal magic…”gonna see all of my friends…”

Mark McCulloch