Painful whine developed,(and no it's not the wife)

[fipcee]

I feel that I may have a more major concern at the moment, the car has developed a loud "whine" in the last 2 weeks : . Doesn't sound like diff as it appears to be coming from towards the front, guessing auto??? I am also "feeling" some vibrations through the foot rest. I can put the car in neutral when driving along and the noise is still there. When in gear and slowing down the noise eases off until it drops to 2nd gear and then I can hear it pick up again, slightly, before quietening off again. Going down hill with no throttle pressure it gets louder. Finally every now and then I hear a "humm" from somewhere near the glove box : I checked the handbook thinking that maybe I need to top up the transmission fluid but apparently it is a sealed unit. Had a full flush done approx 15000k's ago, car has done 88000k's and has not been flogged since I purchased it 3 1/2 yrs ago, I have done 30000k's in it in this time. I realise that it is hard to do a diagnosis but any suggestions on likely cause and fixes will be muchly appreciated. Thanks