Gags implying roadmen, or lengthmen as they were known, did not do a great deal in their working lives were plentiful.
The truth was lengthmen worked hard clearing out drains and ditches, keeping verges neat and and warning senior officials of dangerous deterioration in the road surface.
These lengthmen was photographed by noted photographer Geoff Charles at Bodegroes, near Pwllheli, in 1958.
As the financial pressures faced by councils increased lengthmen assigned to particular stretches of roadway were withdrawn in favour of centralised depots.
It was modelled on the old lengthmen system which saw workmen deal swiftly with minor problems on specific stretches of roads.
They were followed in the fatal accident rate league by merchant shipping seamen, aircraft flight deck officers, railway
lengthmen, scaffolders, roofers and glaziers, forestry workers, quarry and mine workers, and dockers.
Just a year after bringing in a community gang, based on the old
lengthmen system in the north-west of the island, highways bosses are preparing to repeat the initiative in two other areas.
The gang, working in the north west of the island, will tackle minor problems which used to be dealt with by
lengthmen.