Did you know:

• The name Croydon comes from the Anglo Saxon words for crocus (croh) valley (denu)?
• And a possible derivation of Sydenham is the Anglo-Saxon “Cippas’ settlement” – meaning drunkard’s settlement?
• Or that the guys with the task of building Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s mammoth Thames Tunnel were paid in beer?

These were just some of the fascinating titbits Lettice and I picked up at Overground Uncovered at the London Transport Museum last night.

We had an early preview of the new exhibition along with many of the people responsible for the completion of the exciting new London Overground line, which currently runs from Dalston Junction to West Croydon.

The new exhibition reflects the line’s colouring (lots of orange) and tells the stories of the people and places that have now been firmly pulled into London’s ever-fascinating transport system.

The exhibition contains three sections:

1. Connecting Communities: graphic art from the museum’s archive combined with modern photographs and personal stories from the people who live there
2. The Thames Tunnel: the story behind Brunel’s incredible feat of engineering, which also became a tourist attraction!
3. A new train set for London: time-lapse videos and photos showing the construction of the new trains and the line, plus there’s a Top Trumps game compares the new trains with the old steam locomotives of the 1870s

It’s not a huge exhibit, but it makes a really nice, bang-up-to-date addition to the already brilliant London Transport Musuem’s collection.

Overground Uncovered runs at the London Transport Museum from 29 June until 31 March 2011.