CONSIDERING that the story about his group is about to be immortalised in a movie, Jon Cleave appears very laid back about the whole thing.

But a major feature film is just the latest in a series of remarkable events which has seen a group of Cornish fisherman who got together almost 30 years ago to sing a few sea shanties on the beach to raise money for charity and have gone on to have a top 10 album, be invited to play at Glastonbury and now regularly pack concert halls around the country.

“I don’t see anyone in the group getting too excited about it all,” chuckled Jon, one of the founder members of Fisherman’s Friends who come to Burnley Mechanic next Saturday.

“We’re all very much of a certain age, we’re not going to get carried away.”

Formed in the fishing village of Port Isaac, the original Fisherman’s Friends all knew each other from school and all had a connection to the sea.

“When we first started in the early 90s we all all lived in Port Isaac,” said Jon, the groups’s bass singer. “We’ve had people come and go over the years and now we’ve even got a couple of foreigners from Padstow.

“But Fisherman’s Friends was a good name for us. In the initial group of 10, five were lobster fishermen, I was a lifeboatman, we had some former coastguards - we all had connections to the fishing community.”

The group took traditional songs and found themselves in demand far away from their native Cornwall. Their debut album Port Isaac Fisherman’s Friends reached the giddy heights of number nine in the album chart in 2010.

“For a couple of years or so after that we were all over the place like a rash,” remembers Jon. “It was all getting very hectic.”

Tragedy struck the group in 2013 when an accident at a festival led to the death of their tour manager and singer Trevor Grills.

“We had a break after the accident but coming back was fine,” said Jon, “although things have never really reached the heights they had before.”

All that might change with Fisherman’s Friends the movie due to go on national release on March 15.

The cast includes a number of leading British actors including James Purefoy, Daniel Mays, Noel Clarke, Dave Johns and Dame Maggie Smith and producers hope that it’s gentle storyline about friendship will strike a chord with audiences rather like the Full Monty did.

The original Fisherman’s Friends were heavily involved in the early days of the production.

“The lads who are still lobster fishermen took the actors out on their boats and showed them how to stack pots and avoid getting nipped by the lobsters,” said Jon. “We were given a private screening and I think we were all a little reticent but actually it was fantastic. We were laughing out loud.”

Cinemagoers hoping to spot Jon with his distinctive moustache and bald head will be disappointed, however.

“We were all a bit nervous about our characters being on screen so what they have done is create composite characters which was a real relief.”

The boys do appear in it as extras.

“The few people who know us will be able to spot us if they keep their eyes open,” said Jon.

Fisherman’s Friends, Burnley Mechanics, Saturday, March 9. Details from 01282 664400 or www.burnleymechanics.co.uk