in). Elsie agreed to Martin living there, with Linda's approval. As it transpired, Martin had made the right decision, at least on the employment front. He was good with his hands, and Len, who owned the local Builder's Yard, was a close friend of Elsie's and readily agreed to take Martin on as an apprentice. This upset the yard's labourer Eddie Yeats as there wasn't enough work at the yard for the three of them, and unsurprisingly it was Eddie who faced the chop, having unsuccessfully tried to put Martin off the job. In August, Martin was repairing the water boiler at Baldwin's Casuals when he took a shine to the new trainee Karen Oldfield. Karen returned his affections and they went to a dance together. They soon fell for each other but a complication then arose in the form of Karen's protective father, who barred Karen from seeing Martin when Martin got Karen drunk on Elsie's gin while entertaining her at No.11 in Elsie's absence. Martin arranged to meet Karen despite the ban but to his shock it was Mr. Oldfield who showed up, to warn him off Karen personally. Karen was still willing to see Martin, but as Elsie wouldn't let them use No.11, Martin used the yard as a meeting place, with them seeing each other there on nights. The relationship continued. In October, the pair got their ears pierced but Martin took his out when his ear went septic. Later, they were caught together at the yard by the police, resulting in Oldfield finding out that they were still together. With Oldfield threatening Martin with court action, Martin decided to return to Birmingham, deciding that if he couldn't see Karen then there was nothing for him in Weatherfield. This surprised Oldfield, who agreed to let him see Karen - but warned him about getting her drunk again. At Christmas, Martin faced a complication as Karen wanted him to celebrate the day with her instead of his family, and threatened to leave him otherwise. Martin left for Birmingham but came back later, deciding to be with Karen after all, but interrupted a date between Karen and Paul Sidall, and shoved Paul across a table at the Rovers. Martin realised he'd gone too far and risked pushing her closer to Paul, but after getting an idea from Elsie, bought an engagement ring and proposed to Karen, hoping that