Moorgate- London showing off her lesser known charms

Moorgate- a London jewel but lacking in glamour.

At first glance Moorgate in London doesn't immediately catch you in the eye. It lacks a certain glamour, a sense that there is some indefinable quality that seems to be missing. It looks as though it needs a hug or cuddle because there doesn't seem to be any get up and go, pizzazz, vim, verve and vitality about it. You begin to look around you and find that maybe it needs something that you can't quite put your finger on. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of colour or personality about Moorgate and you almost feel as though it cries out for a sharper identity. There is nothing vivid or striking about Moorgate and yet it does have a historical grandeur that sets it apart from others.

Now let me tell you something. I think Moorgate is both pleasant and charming in its way. Most of the buildings do though look both featureless, dull and deeply disheartening. There is a cheerlessness and sad functionalism about Moorgate that does leave you feeling ever so slightly dispirited. It is cold and soulless, a huge oasis of strangely designed office blocks and buildings with little in the way of charisma. But then Moorgate is not in the West End and therefore the glitz and glitter of theatreland is a world away from the more formal  and businesslike City of London where men in suits dabble in commerce and high finance. .

My family and I popped along to the Museum of London near London Wall and I have to say I was deeply impressed. Throughout the years and decades I've seen most of London's great and good museums and they do give you the most revealing insight into the history and development of our great capital city. Of course London is the best because my late and wonderful dad made sure that I was given the best guided tour that any child could ever have.

But he didn't get around to taking me to the Museum of London although he did take his grey Ford Cortina around the London Wall on innumerable occasions. This was a forgivable oversight because as a young teenager you never see London in quite the same favourable light as you do when you get older. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and what seemed quite ordinary at the time now looks much more appealing and attractive.

Still, it has to be said, Moorgate sent a shiver of astonishment through me. You find yourself completely surrounded by huge blocks of concrete, glass and marble that are almost devoid of any architectural virtue. Now what I know about modern architecture could probably be written on the back of a postcard but Moorgate would never be my personal recommendation for a tourist looking for places to visit for any great length of time.

Wherever you look in Moorgate there are white and grey slabs of what can best be described as giant Lego bricks joined together in a very hasty and hurried fashion. There is something indescribably plastic and cosmetic about some of those office blocks that have very little in the way of elegance or deep aesthetic appeal.

There is a very strong thread of 21st century modernism running through Moorgate which should be inspirational but instead I think is very depressing. There are the cool and funky Pret A Mangers, the unmistakable vegan restaurants and cafes and a place, called quaintly, Cococos which sounds as though the sign- writer had a bit too much to drink. And then Moorgate almost looks as if it simply ran out of ideas or imagination because there is a huge ghetto land of aimless walkways and pavements that seem to go on for ever.

Anyway we all had a marvellous time this afternoon at the Museum of London. We learnt once again- as if we needed any confirmation- that those Romans weren't much of a help to Britain way back when. They invaded, pillaged, attacked, looted and generally threw their weight about  when quite frankly there was no need for such outlandish behaviour. They were horribly aggressive, a general nuisance and did nothing for British morale when it was perhaps needed most.

Behind those impressive glass cases we saw all of that rather intimidating military hardware that led to war, wickedness and ugly bloodshed. There were knives, swords, shields, mail shirts worn by courageous soldiers in battle and all of those very early signs of wholesale destruction and manslaughter that so disfigured the face of history.

Your eyes were also though drawn to some of the finest and most outstanding pieces of very primitive pottery. There were vases and plates, bowls and limestone reliefs depicting kings and queens throughout those very early pre- Internet days when a tablet was something you found in an ancient ruin or roundhouse.

And finally we did arrive in the more up to date decades that for most of us provided a much clearer sense of identification with recent day to day life. There was the 1950s with its post rationing severity and a real sense of Post War recovery, the 1960s with all those bold, brilliant and adventurous colours, the 1980s with all of those dramatically revolutionary events, the 1990s when things seemed to get slightly out of control and then the 21st century which just rocked us back on our feet with a remarkable sequence of surprises.

As we left the Museum of London I couldn't help but notice a rather flattering homage to one of my favourite London landmarks. The Lyons Corner House was the finest place on earth while I was growing up and here at the Museum of London it had been given pride of place. As a child it was the greatest restaurant I'd ever been to and when my parents took me to the Lyons Corner House in Marble Arch you were made to feel  very privileged and honoured to be in the presence of something that made you feel like royalty.

And so we bid farewell to Moorgate, the London Wall and the Museum of London. This had been my first visit to what, at first sight, seemed the most mundane of buildings. Still it was an enjoyable trip around the very essence of London and its very noble history. When all is said and done there is a great deal to be said for a trip to the Museum of London on a very mild February afternoon. I'll give it a definite thumbs up so that's a yes from me. Well done Moorgate.