Big names The Carthy clan - Martin, wife Norma Waterson and daughter Eliza – are at the heart of the English scene. Richard Thompson and former band Fairport Convention have become folk legends.

Rising stars Singer Kate Rusby and her husband, violinist John McCusker, are leading the new generation. Plus Jim Moray has won acclaim by creating folk with modern technology.

Who listens? Folk has traditionally had an older, dedicated and more rural audience, although a younger generation of artists is attracting new fans.

Evolution Folk is the traditional music of England, with different variations native to Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The songs, which told stories of everyday folk, had been passed from generation to generation but not written down until a century ago when collector Cecil Sharp realised they were worth preserving.

Since then, it has had lean and fat times, with a revival coming in the 1960s and leading to the ascendance of the folk singer-songwriter and folk rock groups. Folk is seen as being in a healthy state today, with relatively young artists keeping the tradition alive - if not appealing to a mass audience.