lengthman

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English

WOTD – 28 March 2023

Etymology

A railway lengthman patrolling his length of the North London Line to Richmond station in 1979.
Mal Edwards, who worked as a lengthman on the Newport and Shrewsbury canals into the 1960s, on his narrowboat near Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom.

From length +‎ -man (suffix denoting a man or person who is an expert in an area or who takes part in an activity).

Pronunciation

Noun

lengthman (plural lengthmen)

  1. (nautical, rail transport, road transport, chiefly historical) A man responsible for the care and maintenance of a length of canal, railway, or road.
    • 1952 February, “British Railways Standard Buildings”, in Railway Magazine, page 74:
      Plans have already been prepared for signalboxes, lengthmen's huts, and first aid rooms. […] Lengthmen's huts are to be built in brick.
    • 1961 December, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Laindon”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 717:
      A derailment which occurred on April 18 last between Laindon and Pitsea on the London Tilbury & Southend Line was caused by a lengthman who in a moment of aberration clipped a set of spring catch points in the derailing position, concludes Col. J. R. H. Robertson in his report […]
    • 2006 October, Mal Edwards, “Money for Old Rope”, in BBC Wales‎, archived from the original on 2021-04-21:
      I started working on the canal when I was only 14. I was a lengths man on the Shrewsbury, the canal. It was my job to cut hedges and to keep the toe path clear.
    • 2021, “Lengthsman Scheme”, in Herefordshire Association of Local Councils‎, archived from the original on 2021-02-08:
      It became common practice for day-to-day maintenance to be undertaken by a number of roadmen, each appointed to maintain a length of road. This gave rise to the term, ‘the lengthsman’. Over time, greater mechanisation and centralisation replaced lengthsmen with area-based work teams, controlled from County offices and depots. […] In 2000 Herefordshire Council launched a local initiative, the ‘Lengthsman Scheme,’ to devolve some minor highway works to Parish Councils. […] Parishes are permitted to use the delegated budget to employ a local contractor to undertake the works – the lengthsman. […] Works carried out by lengthsmen can range from clearing minor storm debris discharged onto the highway, cutting back overgrown hedges encroaching on footways and verge cutting as required by the parish.

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