The Megatron

All this talk about Innocent and McDonalds has got me reminiscing about my days as a burger-flipping, till-tart working in a space ship.

The Megatron had started life as an themed fast food in (I'm guessing here) the late eighties. It was the talk of the school, though the closest I got to seeing it for myself was watching the lasers from my bedroom window. The word in the classroom, from kids whose parents were obviously more easy to persuade than my own, was that the experience involved ordering from touch-screen consoles, being served by robots and star-shaped fries. I also remember being told it was a complete rip-off so perhaps that's why it didn't last long. I'd always imagined the interior as 80's-style futurism, though it looks more 60's influenced in these photos on the architect's website - somewhere the Jetsons might eat:

In 1993 it opened as a McDonalds franchise. The original interior was ripped out to make way for the standard McDonalds' fare; the burgers came down in price but the fries were now straight; instead of robots you were likely to be served by me or one of my 6th form mates. I'm no particular fan of McD's these days, but my memories are fond though no-doubt rose-tinted. There was always plenty of gossip, intrigue and scandal and there's something special about camaderie of a young team engaged in mindless tasks.

I don't know when the Megatron finally closed, but it now sits abandoned alongside the A14 near Alconbury. Ripe for intrepid urban photographers like Ed The Greek: