IT READS like a plot from a Dickens novel, something akin to the tragically jilted Miss Faversham keeping her wedding feast and her home in a timewarp in Great Expectations.

For more than 30 years, the house numbered 5a Station Street, Tow Law, has stood empty and largely undisturbed following the death of its owner, local politician and bus operator Dobson Baldwin.

But today, due to the efforts of the history society and community association in this former County Durham mining town, a treasure trove of secrets are revealed to the public.

A remarkable exhibition of 2,400 photographs of Tow Law and life in surrounding villages goes on display.

Some of the photographs date back to the 1860s. But the inspiration which sparked the exhibition was the collection of 340 found at 5a Station Street. They have never been seen in public before.

The history society members who first entered 5a Station Street described it as being "eerie and fascinating". Dobson Baldwin died in 1968, leaving a legacy of public service and business links which extended to running a bus service in nearby Weardale. He was a member of Tow Law Urban Council for more than 20 years.

His son, Stanley, who moved south to become a barrister, showed no interest in the property or other houses his father owned in the Tow Law area.

"It seemed as if Mr Baldwin had just passed away leaving everything intact in his home," says Ron Storey, of Tow Law History Society. "Even his dinner suit and white scarf were laid out on the bed as if he were about to attend an engagement.

'There was crockery neatly stacked on shelves, an early television set which still worked. But one of the strangest things was a tree which had grown in the kitchen and its branches reached to the ceiling."

One of the most treasured finds in the Baldwin house, though, was the collection of old photographs and documents. They included a photograph taken by one of The Northern Echo's photographers on February 23, 1939, of King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth officially opening a social centre built by unemployed miners.

Dobson Baldwin is pictured with the royal visitors.

Jenny Flynn, chairman of Tow Law Town Council and secretary of the community association, says: "Going into that house was really like walking into the Dickens novel Great Expectations.

"One of the strangest things was that Dobson Baldwin must have been a very, very thin man. Some of the women tried on the trousers of his dinner suit and they were far too tight."

Mrs Flynn says they had to secure permission from the Official Solicitor, who is still dealing with the affairs of the Baldwin estate, to enter 5a Station Street.

The community association has applied for a £300,000 grant from the National Lottery and it is aiming to use part of this money to set up a permanent archive of the town's history, which would hopefully include the Baldwin photographs.

Although the exhibition centres on much of the mining and railway history of Tow Law, it also includes many fascinating photographs showing life in villages like Ushaw Moor, Satley, Esh Winning and New Brancepeth in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"It is the most important record of life in this area we have ever staged," says Mr Storey. "And it must be one of the biggest collection of photographs ever mounted about one place."