Not missing but misnamed - change Hartley (Sevenoaks) to Longfield
This isn't about moving the endpoint, but changing the name of the endpoint is close enough.
The villages of Hartley, Longfield and Fawkham in Kent are contiguous and New Barn is very nearly contiguous so together they seem to make up a large village/small town. I imagine Hartley has the bigger population and so the Slow Ways group chose that name. But with a little more information I think it is misleading and actively confusing and there are multiple reasons.
From a national perspective, there are 5 other villages etc called Hartley in England, one is even also in Kent, only 30 miles away, near Cranbrook (district council Tunbridge Wells) . There is only one other village called Longfield, in Wiltshire, which seems to have been so consumed by Trowbridge (town centre) that it is now only the name of a roundabout and one residential road. Much less likely to be confused.
There are many shops and places to eat (and a petrol station, a sign of high traffic and therefore centrality) all concentrated in the streets immediately around Longfield Station. In Hartley there only seems to be a post office, an off-license and a Co-op but they are scattered, all at least half a km apart. Even the bus stop in Hartley which is called "Church Road Shops" is at least half a km away from a shop. And only the Co-op is actually on Church St?!? On the flip side Hartley does have a church hall where perhaps they might have zumba lessons, or the occasional cake sale, maybe that counts as a cultural hub?
There is a (large catchment) secondary school in Longfield but only a (smaller catchment) primary school in Hartley.
The actual Slow Ways settlement point is literally outside Longfield Station ticket office. There is no station (or bus station) in Hartley. In fact there are more bus routes through Longfield, only some go through Hartley.
There are two (parish?) councils. "Longfield and New Barn" which comes under Dartford district council area, and "Hartley" that comes under Sevenoaks. No one cares about Fawkham apparently. By road Sevenoaks is 15 miles away, Dartford only 6. Anyone who isn't aware of the council boundary lines (i.e. almost everyone apart from local residents) might reasonably assume Hartley was part of the Dartford area, and thus assume that Hartley (Sevenoaks) was not the place they were looking for. Especially because there is that other Kentish Hartley near Cranbrook. And because there is a "Hartley Road" which is also within the Sevenoaks council area, but is nearer to Sevenoaks and on the opposite side.
If you search for Hartley (Sevenoaks) on the Slow Ways homepage, a circle appears but it is not to the settlement circle/end point.
https://beta.slowways.org/Place/Hartley,%20Sevenoaks,%20Kent,%20England
And, again, the actual Settlement circle is in Longfield, not in Hartley, so even Slow Ways doesn't really think this Settlement is in Hartley.
Caveat. I have only been to Hartley/Longfield once (to review a very lovely Slow Way) so can't claim local knowledge, but I can use Google. So perhaps locals do call the whole area Hartley. But even then, how many intended users of the Slow Ways network will have that local knowledge?
Seriously, please change the name.
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Hi Daisy,
Thanks so much for exploring the Hartley and Longfield conundrum. I can see what you mean on the map.
I have a feeling that the data pulls in from a data set outside of Slow Ways and we may not be able to change the name. However, I'll certainly put the suggestion forwards and see what might be possible.
Best wishes,
Cristie0
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