A Salford road has been renamed to commemorate the work of former council conservation officer, Joe Martin.
The Salford Council member who died 14 years ago, was responsible for managing and preserving many of the city’s environment heritage assets for decades.
However, on Sunday 27 October the council gave his family to unveil the new street sign “Joe Martin Street”.
Joe, who was brought up in Salford and was the youngest of 12 siblings, went to school at De La Salle College on Weaste Lane and was a well-known musical performer across the city with his brother, Pete.
On the day Joe’s family, friends and colleagues gathered to be presented with a replica street sign by Councillor Phillip Cusack, Councillor for Weaste and Seedley, Chair of Planning and Transportation Regulatory Panel.
“Not just the work he had done for Salford in general, as a conservation officer, but the amount of work he did for the environment and the heritage of Salford.
“I thought the work that Joe did over many years needed commemorating.”
He continued: “I remember Joe from school, we went to De La Salle that was just round the corner.
“It didn’t take a lot persuading to get this street named after him.
“Nobody had a bad word to say about Joe, and everyone was complimentary of the work he did.”
The road has been made in association with Derive of which Cllr Cusack is a director, and it will be providing a total of 68 homes on the former St Lukes school site, off Kerrera Drive.
Cllr Cusack said of Mr Martin: “He was a proud Salfordian, and I am a proud Salfordian as well.
“There is no great stretch, and it was a great pleasure after three years to get something that is going to live in history, for the things that Joe loved, and the city that he loved.
“Here we have Joe Martin Street.”
The street will be compromised of affordable and social housing, which his family were more than grateful for his name to be attached to.
The memories and the emotion of the speech shared, showed how much of a loved and well-respected man Joe was.
And as the celebrations continued with his family, including four of his siblings, James, John, Pete Martin, and his sister Angela Garner, giving them an opportunity to reminisce on the memory of Joe Martin, a much-loved man.
And after the speech had finished Pete Martin, 76, and his brother-in-law and close friend Kevin Garner, 74, sang and shared the memories of Joe.
The pair laced up their guitars, and sang beautiful renditions of Walk Right Back, All My Loving by the Beatles, and many more.
After the performance, his brother Pete shared how proud he was, adding: “It is so deserved, he is one of the longest serving members of the council, and the staff.
“He basically got paid for his hobby, and they still haven’t replaced him because he is such a hard act to follow.”
He continued: “Everyday he was basically living his dream. He just loved it.”
And it wasn’t just the memories of his work that were important to Pete, as he continued: “Joe and myself, sang for forty years together and people forget that we spent a lot of time singing and travelling.
“After Joe died we couldn’t think of a bad word to say about him, and he was the youngest of 12.
“He was always entertaining, and he would always make people laugh – we would be doing a serious gig for the family and then come on stage and perform the Laughing Policeman, he was brilliant – he lived it.”
The sign will stand in place of a man who has had a great impact on the city, having both influence on the restoration of Ordsall Hall and the building on the Monton Lighthouse.
The gathering of people were a clear indication of his love and memory in his family, and the community that still stands to this day.
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