Pruning old roses

Have a very old Peace (planted 1985 to remember Nanny, so we call it Nanny's Rose!) As all other Peace have grown its been fantastic and easy to prune. However, over the years, it's become leggy. Aware that you should not prune down into old wood I havent! However I noticed I had a couple of those great 'new' green shoots coming straight from the ground so I've decided to cut away a couple of 'old' brown original shoots, and of course their branches built up over time.
Thus am I going to lose this old friend?

 

No, very much doubt it, I have many roses some of which do sprout the leggy long stems that appear every year, I cut them down as close as I can get, sometimes even scraping the earth away to get right down amongst the root, experts of a bygone age always said it was best to pull them up rather than cut, darn near impossible, I have tried.....

 

@Glynne Williams I definitely think the best thing is to post a few photos, nothing will convey its current condition better! Are the new shoots truly coming from the ground or simply very close to it, could be suckers, it's occasionally very hard to tell. One can often prune harder than it appears initially and I suspect that may be part of the issue here.

I still think pulling off is the better remedy, as cutting can often stimulate further suckering, but the problem seems to be that one has to dig far under the emerging shoot to manage it effectively IME.

EDIT: Oops, my apologies Woo, posted before I realised you had!

Nick

 

Sucker leaves have three pairs of leaflets like a wild rose, but garden roses only have two pairs.

 

W

 

Wiseowl I know that is why I mentioned it, totally agree and do use that method but I'd defy anybody to come here and try to pull a sucker from some of mine that have been here for nearly 40yrs, I was just trying to assure the member that the Peace Rose would be okay. as it is an old one..

 

Thanks very much for ALL your suggestions and contributions. The GREEN shoots are basal shoots and were LAST year's green shoots and not suckers. I do have two main shoots with their 'branches' which might allow the plant to survive. However my main reason for asking the original question was to discover if anyone has had buds arrise from pruned BROWN shoots. Are there specific varieties which DO buds on brown wood?

 

Glynne

 

I've just been out and took this shot of new shoots sprouting from a brown stump, I moved a lot of roses Aug 2020, completely the wrong time and I also had to cut them back to do it, "what don't speak don't lie" not sure if its plain to see but it is sprouting from a brown stump , its not a sucker and will reshape my rose, was very onesided last year but did flower ...

 

@Lincslass...... I grew up in Lincolnshire.
Your picture shows a shoot coming from old wood with greyish bark, but still alive. At the bottom left of your rose is what I call brown wood and this is dead and won't shoot, quite often the bark has gone.