Mr Ivieson's advice: turn it into a bookcase; cut it in two and make a bedside table and a tea-table; or best of all, leave it as it is.After the serial, Under the Red Robe, Mr Ivieson announced the programme was being listened to by a panel representing a cross-section of women's interests: Miss Margaret Bendfield, former minister of labour, Miss Deborah Kerr, the film star, and Mrs Elsie May Crump, "wife of a butcher from Chorlton-cum-Hardy" They would be giving their verdict the next day The Inkspots sang "Whispering Grass" And an institution was born.. "Of course one can't wear one's best clothes for scrubbing the floor... But one can devise a neat and becoming sort of uniform for the job." Hair was a particular problem, she said, particularly with the dust from beaten carpets.Mrs Louise Donald of Aberdeen asked how to make best use of that old- fashioned item of furniture, the Whatnot. When I get home I've very likely got the downstairs rooms to mop and dust - I can do this, and keep an eye on the herrings as they cook."After "If I Had My Way" by Bing Crosby, for Mrs Groome, of Rushden, Northamptonshire, and "Starlight Serenade" by Vera Lynn for Mrs Mitchell of Dennistoun, Glasgow, Mrs Kay Beattie gave a talk on make-up and grooming entitled "putting your best face forward"."There's no reason why one shouldn't look nice always," she said.

A minority, including those who bought starter homes or some types of council property in the late 1980s, are unlikely to see an end to their problems even then. Despite the past year's housing market recovery, for many it will take at least another 12 months of rising prices before their homes are worth more than the mortgages they owe on them, according to experts. More than 500,000 homeowners in Britain are tied to their existing home by the spectre of negative equity. They also represent a minority of insurers at the bottom, where many of the poor performers are proprietary companies.The excellent performance of mutuals raises fundamental questions about whose interests are being served by the trend towards abandoning this long established form of ownership.. It costs money and the potential gain from a shares handout is unlikely to be worth the costs of setting up and then discontinuing a policy.The greatest irony is that Norwich Union is among a large number of mutual life insurers serving their policyholders better than conventional insurance companies owned by outside shareholders.An analysis for the Independent by John Chapman, a former senior official at the Office of Fair Trading, shows that at the top of performance league tables, mutuals outnumber proprietary companies by a wide margin. Earlier this year, Standard Life admitted that a senior employee had been seconded by the company to examine the implications of demutualising.Prospective "carpetbaggers" hoping to benefit from any expected flotation or takeover should bear in mind that setting up a pension scheme or taking out life cover is a much longer-term proposition than the simple act of opening a building society account.

However, observers point to the way that building societies were stressing their commitment to the mutual ideal two or three years ago. All have repeatedly stated that they have no intention of abandoning mutuality, as has Standard Life, the largest mutual insurer in Europe. Conversely, anyone hoping to buy a traded endowment to gain from the free shares is wasting their money.Norwich Union's decision to float was not a surprise. Despite its claims of uniqueness, most industry analysts believe its move is likely to be followed by many other mutual insurers.Companies tipped to follow suit, or be taken over by larger banks or already-listed insurers, include Friends Provident, believed to be up for sale at present, Scottish Provident, Scottish Widows, Scottish Amicable and NPI. It may be possible for some policyholders to extend the life of their policies until after the vote.Beale Dobie, which deals in second-hand endowment policies, said the flotation means that anyone considering surrendering their policies should think again. By selling them on the second-hand market, policyholders will retain the right to shares on flotation.

The company said last week that those individuals will receive an extra, unspecified bonus to their funds to take this into account. Those not benefiting will be the company's motor, household and other general insurance policyholders, 600,000 health and medical insurance members, unit trust and PEP investors.Others who will lose out are the 10,000-15,000 members whose policies nature between now and March next year, when voting takes place. Qualifying members will be given the right to buy an additional amount of shares at a preferential price. Based on estimates of a pounds 2bn payout to policyholders, this would mean a basic allocation about pounds 500 worth of shares each.Among policyholders qualifying for shares are those with life and term assurance cover, both with-profits and unit-linked policyholders, personal pensions and annuity holders. Norwich Union said last week that it intends to give each policyholder a basic allocation of shares, with an extra amount depending on the scale of a member's savings with the company. However, the flotation will involve giving policyholders a parcel of shares each and raising extra capital from the stock market. Experts believe the company will be worth between pounds 4bn and pounds 4.5bn, with members receiving about pounds 2bn in shares.