The Good Ship, an excellent Kilburn venue that launched the careers of Adele and The xx, is the latest in a string of venerable London music hotspots to feel the wrath of the capital’s capricious licensing authorities.

On October 29th the popular pub, which has also hosted comedy giants such as Stewart Lee and Stephen Merchant and football’s QPR Podcast, will shut it’s doors for the last time.

Owner John McCooke, who has run the place for over a decade, reckons it’s a ‘mighty shame’, especially since west London is increasingly becoming a ‘bit of a cultural desert’ of late.

The powers that be apparently took a dim view of the High Road institution’s 3am closing time and took steps to curb its hours, which according to McCooke has sadly made the business ‘unviable’.

McCooke has already compromised by curbing the bar’s hours from 4am to 3am, but sadly to no avail.

Chin up though – he’s eager to go out with a bang.

‘We want everyone to come down as often as possible while we are still open’.

Set sail for NW6 then…