Tha canal system does not lend itself readily to water transfer.

Thames water before the ban, announced they were going to transport water from the Severn via canal system.

The operative word in the sentence is 'readily'. The river system is generally natural courses created by water flow across a low permeable substrate. i.e rock and is therefore quite efficient at retaining water. The canal system is engineered and as such the course is the direction you wish to go in and the substrate is usually quite porous and without a natural supply to replace losses the canal system would drain itself dry. Therefore it is not an efficient way to transfer water because of the high rate of loss. Also a river will have a good capacity to accept extra water before reaching a flood point, a canal has very limited capacity to accept extra water so has limitations in the amount of water it will hold for transfer. However, if that is the only method at Thames Waters' disposal it is Hobsons' Choice.

I am not from, nor do I reside in Hartlepool, but I visit occasionally and cannot find anything particularly wrong with it

It's an arbitrary provincial town, the likes of which the government hope will be 'regenerated' by improved rail links. Same applies to Middlesboro, Sunderland etc.

It's the planners of HS2 who think there is something 'wrong' with the north east, not me!

Sorry unthrottled, I was a bit over sensitive when I read your remarks. I live in the North East, as you no doubt gathered, and I am constantly dismayed at the way the region is reported in the national press. It does have one good side effect in that it keeps away the Southerners so they do not push our property prices up any further. This industrial heartland has been devastated in the past 20 years and if we can make some hard cash from selling our plentiful supply of water I think we should do it. It would provide a much needed filip to the region. I have worked on construction and engineering projects in UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa and they are always packed with engineers from the North East because we used to turn out talented people by the regiment. They now need to ply their trade elsewhere. When this pool of ageing talent is exhausted there will be nothing to replace it, the North East produces a fraction of the talent it used to. It is not so much the talent as the experience that is being lost. A crying shame for a region that built ships, mined coal, produced steel, started the railways, built Sydney Harbour Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge any many more besides. It is unreasonable to expect this natural pool of labour to turn from industry and construction into giving each other haircuts and making each other cups of coffee.

Anyone would think I was standing for election. Please excuse the obvious frustration and the potted history, but I feel better now. I am going to lie down in a darkened room for an hour!! Best wishes. Concrete

Do you think it is portrayed badly in the media?

I'd apply that to most of the north and its not just the media. Labour MP Diana Abbot on Question Time last night seemed to suggest living in Stoke was below people.