Welcome!

You're not a copper, are you?

Will and I were chatting in the Wetherspoons in Victoria Station the other day about the Pub Guide and how it had grown from it's original raison d'etre as a guide to pubs (hence the title) to a forum for its contributors to ramble about which stars they'd met, who was stalking them, and even what they'd had for lunch (or dinner, as us northerners call it). Will was keen that WPG (as we shall hereafter refer to it) stick to being a one-stop shop for all your pub-guiding needs. However, we both realised that, now the pointless-gossip genie was out of the bottle, it was going to be really difficult to put it back in there. What could we do to keep all parties happy?

We had another beer.

And then, like white smoke rising over the Vatican, an idea formed in the sky (just over platform 11). Why not have a brother blog where WPG contributors could waffle on as much as they liked, about anything they liked? Of course! How simple! But what will we call it?

It had to be pub-related. And it had to give us the leeway to talk a lot of rubbish. Well, we do that anyway, but it struck me that on the few occasions when I've been party to a lock-in* I've spouted even more objectionable rubbish than I usually do. Which is saying quite a lot. So I suggested "The Lock In" as a title and our glorious leader said yes. Sometimes life is simple like that.

So join us in talking nonsense after hours, and feel free to make use of the comments function. I love you, you're my best mate you are.

*note to non-UK readers: a lock-in is when a publican allows after-hours drinking. In your enlightened country you probably don't need this as your licensing hours allow drinking into the night, but we're supposed to go home at eleven o'clock (10.30 on Sundays). The phrase comes from the fact that no-one who wasn't in the pub at closing time can enter. This means that everyone who takes part is usually pretty far gone before the event even starts. Quite appropriate for this forum, I think.

(oh, and if you were wondering: left to right - Pie Lord, Nick, Will, Alastair, Julian)