Replacing an old apple tree

Hello everybody,
We (Nanny and I) would like some advice and help please. We have a big old Bramley apple tree in our garden, we must have had him for nearly 50 years. I've been told I'm to old at 82 to be going up ladders or scrambling about in apple trees so we wondered if we could bring him down in height to say 10 ft. We've also been told to grub him out and replace with a modern day variety of cooking apple, but we like him, he's been a good friend to us and our family, giving us a good supply of apples over the years ( admitedly some were a bit scabby ). If we replace him with a modern day cooking apple perhaps some suggestions please as we are on chalky soil.

 

Telescopic picker?

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=RGM

You might want to have it professionally pruned to get it back under control, somewhat, as I think that just "butchering" it to 10 ft is probably not going to have a happy outcome!

Modern apple trees are going to cost you rather a lot (well, I think they are rather expensive!) - but the ones on dwarf root stocks won't get out of hand, and you could perhaps have several in the area currently taken up by the tree.